NEW-YORK  *  CINCIKNATI  •:•  GHICAOO 

•AMERICAN- 
•BOOK-COMPANY 


//  )>.  y  y 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

.OGt  -  GIF' 


Received 
Accession  No.  $  /  7  Q  ..3...  • 


McGUFFEY'S  NATURAL  HISTORY  READERS 


LIVING   CREATURES 


OF 


WATER,    LAND,    AND    AIR 


FOR  THE  FOURTH  READER  GRADE 


BY 


JOHN  MONTEITH,  M.A. 


NEW-YORK     •:•     CINCINNATI     .:•     CHICAGO 

AMERICAN   BOOK  COMPANY 


6\ 

3_\O^  .cC* 
*\^v 


PREFACE. 


THE  object  of  MCGUFFEY'S  NATURAL  HISTORY  READERS 
is  primarily  to  furnish  to  childrenv  both  at  home  and  in 
school,  interesting  and  instructive  reading  in  the  form  of 
book  literature.  While  no  attempt  is  made  to  teach  sci- 
ence, the  hope  is  cherished  that  the  descriptions  of  animal 
habits  and  characteristics  may,  incidentally,  stimulate  a  love 
of  nature,  and  of  science,  the  interpreter  of  nature. 

"FAMILIAR  ANIMALS,"  addressing  a  lower  grade  of  ad- 
vancement, confined  its  subjects  to  mammals,  because  the 
facts  connected  with  this  class  are  apparent,  and  are  more 
easily  comprehended. 

"LIVING  CREATURES,"  in  respect  to  grade  of  thought 
and  expression,  takes  a  step  forward.  Treating  of  animals 
scarcely  less  familiar,  and  even  more  interesting,  it  enters 
the  field  of  the  lower  groups  of  animal  life,  where  the  facts 
are  more  remote  from  ordinary  view,  demanding  closer  at- 
tention and  thought. 

To  render  the  illustrations  in  the  highest  degree  accurate 
and  helpful,  the  publishers  have  employed  the  services  of 
artists  whose  study  and  practice  have  made  them  specialists 
in  particular  departments  of  animal  drawing. 


Copyright,  1888,  by  VAN  ANTWERP,  BRAGG  &  Co. 


MO.      LIV.    CREA. 
E-P    7 


CONTENTS. 


LESSON  PAGE 

1.  Eyes  and  No  Eyes      ....  Mrs.  Bdrbaiild.         5 

2.  A  Busy  Skeleton n 

3.  Jewel-makers  and  Island  Builders       .....        18 

4.  Among  the  Shells        ........       23 

5.  The  Clam 26 

6.  The  Clam's  Shell 32 

7.  Some  Uses  of  Clams  .         .         .         .         .          .         .          -35 

8.  The  Oyster     • 38 

9.  Oyster-catching    .......  -44 

10.  Pearls  and  Pearl-makers      .......       48 

11.  The  Snail .         .53 

12.  The  Snail's  Gay  Relations    .          .         .  .         .         .57 

13.  Living  Pinchers   .         «          .         .         .         .         .         .         .62 

14.  Crabs .65 

15.  Leeuwenhoek        .........       67 

16.  Spiders 70 

17.  Miss  Spider's  Wedding  Breakfast        .         .         Miss  Barr.       76 

18.  Among  the  Insects       ........       76 

19.  A  Musical  Burglar 83 

20.  To  a  Mosquito Bryant.       88 

21.  The  House  Cricket      .         .         .        Rennie  and  West-wood.       89 

22.  Crickets  of  the  Field  .         .         .       Rennie  and  Weshvood.       91 

23.  Busy  Bees     .         .         .         .          .  .         .         .         .92 

24.  A  Nice  Little  Housekeeper          .        Jenny  and  the  Insects.     101 

25.  Butterflies  and  Moths 108 

26.  The  Silk-worm    .         .         .          .         .         .         .         .          .112 

27.  Facts  About  Insects 116 

28.  Among  the  Fishes        .         .         .         .         .•-.-.         .         .124 

29.  Roman  Fish  Ponds      ....    Rev.   W.  Houghton.      132 

30.  •"!  Go  A  Fishing" 135 

31.  Another  View  of  Fishing    .......     139 

32  Toads  and  Frogs          ........     140 

33.     Snakes 145 

(iii) 


IV  CONTENTS. 

LESSON  PAGE 

34.  How  a  Turtle  Taught  a  Lesson           .         .       St.  Nicholas.  150 

35.  The  Box-tortoise  and  Its  Kin 154 

36.  Lizards  and  Crocodiles J57 

37.  Audubon      ..........  160 

38.  Among  the  Birds 165 

39.  Water-skimmers  and  Flyers 171 

40.  Wading  Birds  and  Shore  Birds 174 

41.  The  Stork    .         .         .         .         .         .         .        Miss  Kirby.  178 

42.  Birds  of  the  Land        ...         .          .         .         .         .  180 

43.  The  Camel-bird 182 

44.  Birds  of  the  Air— The  Pigeon    .          .          .         .          .         .185 

45.  "Lions  of  the  Air"    ........  188 

46.  Monkeys  in  Feathers  .         .         .        ..          .         .         .         .  IQ2 

47.  Red-head  and  his  Music -194 

48.  The  Canary           .         .                   .          .         .    'IV.  T.  Green.  196 

49.  The  Crow 198 

50.  Facts  About  Birds 200 

51.  A  Bird  Nation 202 

«»2.  The  Great  Singers 205 


Robin-redbreast. 


I.    EYES    AND    NO    EYES. 

MORE  than  a  hundred  years  ago,  lived  Mrs.  Bar- 
bauld  in  a  quiet  place  in  England  where,  with  her 
husband,  she  kept  a  small  school  for  children.  Her 
deep  interest  in  her  pupils  and  in  children  generally, 
together  with  her  simple  and  pleasant  style  of  writing, 
made  her  a  great  favorite.  Her  books  for  the  young 
are  among  the  few  that  have  outlived  the  age  in  which 
they  appeared. 

(v) 


6  LIVING    CREATURES. 

One  of  the  charming  little  books  containing  Mrs. 
Barbauld's  writings  is  entitled  ''Evenings  at  Home." 
In  it  is  included  a  story  called  "Eyes  and  No  Eyes, 
or  the  Art  of  Seeing."  This  story  is  here  selected 
and  adapted  to  introduce  some  short  histories  of  living 
creatures  that  are  to  be  found  in  this  marvelous  world 
in  which  we  live.  These  creatures  could  never  have 
been  described  had  there  been  no  sharp  and  careful 
eyes.  Much  less  can  their  wonderful  characters  be 
understood  unless  dull  and  thoughtless  eyes  can  be 
made  bright  and  quick.  Sharp  wits  follow  sharp  eyes. 

A  few  words  of  explanation  must  precede  the  two 
boys  in  the  story.  They  lived  a  hundred  years  ago, 
and  wore  the  dress  peculiar  to  their  time.  Their  coats 
were  short,  and  were  called  "monkey-jackets."  Their 
trousers  were  tight,  and  terminated  at  the  knees.  Then 
followed  long  stockings  and  very  low  shoes,  which  were 
apt  to  stick  in  the  mud  and  come  off. 

Boys,  a  hundred  years  ago,  had  a  bad  habit  of  car- 
rying their  hands  in  their  pockets,  when  they  had 
pockets.  The  best  way  to  cure  them  of  this  habit  was 
to  sew  up  the  pockets,  or,  better,  to  have  no  pockets 
at  all.  The  latter  was  precisely  the  case  with  the  two 
boys  of  Mrs.  Barbauld's  story.  The  only  pocket  they 
had  was  just  capacious  enough  to  hold  a  handkerchief. 
This  fact  will  explain  the  reason  why,  when  the  boy 
of  a  hundred  years  ago  found  rusty  nails,  pieces  of 
tin  and  glass,  wet  clams  and  dirty  marbles,  he  did  not, 
like  the  boy  of  to-day,  thrust  them  into  his  pocket, 
but  rather  tied  them  up  in  his  handkerchief.  But 
stop !  One  of  the  boys  is  coming  in  to  see  Mr. 
Andrews,  his  teacher. 


EYES    AND    NO    EYES.  7 

"Well,  Robert,  whither  have  you  been  walking  this 
afternoon?"  asked  Mr.  Andrews,  as  the  lad  entered 
his  room  at  the  close  of  a  holiday. 

"I  have  been,  sir,  to  Brown  Heath,"  replied  Rob- 
ert, "and  around  by  the  windmill  on  Camp  Mount, 
and  home  through  the  meadows  by  the  river." 

"Well,  that  is  a  pleasant  round,"  said  Mr.  Andrews. 

"I  thought  it  very  dull,  sir,"  said  Robert.  "I 
scarcely  met  with  a  single  person.  I  had  rather  by 
half  have  gone  by  the  turnpike  road." 

"Why  yes,  if  seeing  men  and  horses  were  your  ob- 
ject, you  would  indeed  have  been  entertained  on  the 
high-road.  But  did  you  see  William?" 

"We  set  out  together,"  answered  Robert,  "but  he 
lagged  behind  in  the  lane ;  so  I  walked  on  and  left 
him." 

"That  was  a  pity,"  Mr.  Andrews  said.  "He 
would  have  been  company  for  you." 

"  O,  he  is  so  tedious,  always  stopping  to  look  at 
this  thing  and  that,"  said  Robert,  impatiently.  "I  had 
rather  walk  alone.  I  dare  say  he  has  not  yet  got 
home." 

"Here  he  comes!  Well,  William,  where  have  you 
been?"  asked  Mr.  Andrews  of  the  boy  who  had  lagged 
behind. 

"O  sir,   the  pleasantest  walk!"  answered  William. 

"I  went  all  over  the  Brown  Heath,  and  so  on  up 
to  the  mill  at  the  top  of  the  hill,  .and  then  down  among 
the  meadows  by  the  side  of  the  river." 

"Why,  that  is  just  the  round  Robert  has  been  tak- 
ing," exclaimed  Mr.  Andrews,  "and  he  complains  of 
its  dullness-,  and  prefers  the  high-road." 


8  LIVING    CREATURES. 

"I  wonder  at  that,"  said  William.  "I  am  sure  I 
hardly  took  a  step  that  did  not  delight  me,  and  I  have 
brought  home  my  handkerchief  full  of  curiosities." 

PART   2. 

"  SUPPOSE,  then,  you  give  us  some  account  of  what 
amused  you  so  much.  I  fancy  it  will  be  as  new  to 
Robert  as  to  me,"  suggested  Mr.  Andrews. 

"I  will,  sir,"  said  William,  cheerfully.  "On  the 
road  leading  to  the  Heath,  I  spied  a  thing  curious 
enough,  in  the  hedge.  It  was  an  old  crab-tree  out  of 
which  grew  a  great  branch  of  something  green,  quite 
different  from  the  tree  itself.  Here  is  a  branch  of  it." 

"Ah!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Andrews,  "this  is  the  mistle- 
toe, a  plant  of  great  fame  on  account  of  the  use  made 
of  it  by  the  Druids  of  old  in  their  religious  rites.  It 
is  one  of  those  plants  which  do  not  grow  in  the  ground 
by  a  root  of  their  own,  but  fix  themselves  upon  other 
plants;  whence  it  is  styled  a  parasite." 

"A  little  further  on,"  continued  William,  "•!  saw 
a  green  woodpecker  fly  to  a  tree,  and  run  up  the  trunk 
like  a  cat.  What  beautiful  birds  they  are !  When  I 
got  upon  the  open  heath,  how  charming  it  was!  The 
air  seemed  so  fresh,  and  the  prospect  so  free  and  wide ! 
Then  it  was  all  covered  with  gay  flowers,  many  of 
which  I  had  never  seen  before.  I  saw  several  birds 
that  were  new  to  me.  There  was  a  flock  of  lapwings 
that  amused  me  much.  As  I  came  near,  some  of 
them  kept  flying  round  and  round  just  over  my  head, 
and  crying  pee-wit,  so  distinctly  one  might  almost  fancy 
they  spoke.  I  thought  I  should  have  caught  one  of 


EYES    AND    NO    EYES.  9 

them,  for  he  flew  as  though  one  of  his  wings  was 
broken,  and  often  tumbled  close  to  the  ground.  But 
as  I  came  near,  he  always  made  a  shift  to  get  away." 

"Ha,  ha!"  interrupted  Mr.  Andrews,  laughing, 
"you  were  finely  taken  in,  then.  This  was  an  arti- 
fice of  the  bird's  to  entice  you  away  from  its  nest ;  for 
they  build  upon  the  bare  ground,  and  their  nests 
would  be  easily  observed  did  they  not  draw  off  the 
attention  of  those  who  disturb  them  by  their  loud 
cries  and  pretended  lameness." 

"I  wish  I  had  known  that,"  said  William,  "for  the 
bird  led  me  a  long  chase,  often  over  shoes  in  water. 
However,  it  was  the  cause  of  my  falling  in  with  an 
old  man  and  a  boy  who  were  cutting  and  piling  turf 
for  fuel ;  and  I  had  a  good  talk  with  them  about  the 
manner  of  preparing  the  turf,  and  the  price  it  sells  at. 
I  then  took  my  course  up  to  the  windmill  on  the 
mount.  What  a  wide  prospect !  I  counted  fifteen 
church  steeples.  From  the  hill  I  went  straight  down 
to  the  meadows  below,  and  walked  on  the  side  of  a 
brook  that  runs  into  the  river.  There  were  a  great 
many  dragon-flies  all  about  the  stream.  I  caught  one 
of  the  finest,  and  have 'got  him  in  a  leaf.  But  how  I 
longed  to  catch  a  bird  that  I  saw  hovering  over  the 
water,  and  that,  every  now  and  then,  darted  down  into 
it !  It  was  all  over  a  mixture  of  the  most  beautiful 
green  and  blue,  with  some  orange  color." 

"I  can  tell  you  what  that  bird  was,"  said  Mr.  An- 
drews. "It  was  a  kingfisher,  the  celebrated  halcyon 
of  the  ancients,  about  which  so  many  tales  are  told." 

"There  were  a  great  many  swallows,  too,  sporting 
upon  the  surface  of  the  water,"  continued  William. 


IO  LIVING    CREATURES. 

''Sometimes  they  dashed  into  the  stream;  sometimes 
they  pursued  one  another  so  quickly  that  the  eye 
could  scarcely  keep  up  with  them.  A  little  further 
along,  I  saw  a  man  in  a  boat  catching  eels.  While  I 
was  looking  at  him,  a  heron  came  flying  over  my 
head  with  large,  flapping  wings.  After  I  had  left  the 
meadow,  I  crossed  the  cornfields  on  the  way  to  our 
house,  and  passed  close  to  a  marl  pit.  I  picked  up 
a  piece  of  marl  which  was  quite  full  of  shells;  but 
how  sea-shells  could  get  there,  I  can  not  imagine." 

"What  a  number  of  new  ideas  this  afternoon's 
walk  has  afforded  you!  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Andrews.  '"I 
do  not  wonder  that  you  found  it  amusing;  it  has  been 
very  instructive,  too.  Did  you  see  nothing  of  these 
sights,  Robert?" 

"I  saw  some  of  them,"  answered  Robert,  "but  I 
did  not  take  particular  notice  of  them." 

"Why  not?  "  asked  Mr.  Andrews. 

"I  don't  know,"  Robert  answered.  "I  did  not 
care  about  them,  and  I  made  the  best  of  my  way 
home." 

"That  would  have  been  right,"  remarked  Mr.  An- 
drews, "if  you  had  been  sent  on  an  errand;  but  as 
you  walked  only  for  amusement,  it  would  have  been 
wise  to  seek  out  as  many  sources  of  it  as  possible. 
But  so  it  is.  One  man  walks  through  the  world  with 
his  eyes  open,  and  another  with  his  eyes  shut;  and 
upon  this  difference  depends  the  superiority  of  knowl- 
edge the  one  has  over  the  other.  I  have  known  sail- 
ors who  have  been  in  all  quarters  of  the  globe,  and 
who  could  tell  you  nothing  but  the  signs  of  the  tip- 
pling houses  they  visited  in  different  ports,  and  the 


A    BUSY    SKELETON.  II 

quality  and  price  of  the  liquor.  On  the  other  hand, 
a  Franklin  could  not  cross  the  channel  without  making 
some  observations  useful  to  mankind ;  while  many  a 
thoughtless  youth  is  whirled  throughout  Europe  with- 
out gaining  a  single  idea  worth  crossing  a  street  for. 
The  observing  eye  and  the  inquiring  mind  find  im- 
provement and  delight  in  every  ramble  in  town  or 
country. 

"Do  you,  then,  William,  continue  to  make  use  of 
your  eyes ;  and  you,  Robert,  learn  that  eyes  were 
given  you  to  use." 


2.    A    BUSY    SKELETON. 

WHEN  girls  and  boys  are  called  upon  to  write  out 
their  own  thoughts,  they,  are  sometimes  puzzled  to 
find  subjects  for  this  useful  and  charming  exercise. 
Perhaps  they  look  too  far  away.  The  best  subjects 
are  near  at  hand.  Here  is  one,  for  example:  "The 
school  history  of  a  sponge."  This  airy,  thirsty  com- 
panion of  the  slate  has  had  an  eventful  experience. 
Think  over  what  it  has  done  from  the  time  it  was  tied 
to  some  particular  slate  down  to  the  moment  when  it 
was  abandoned  for  the  rubber  'eraser,  and  when  the 
slate  was  put  aside  for  the  paper  tablet. 

The  sponge  has  been  a  most  useful  servant,  though 
its  work  is  peculiar.  The  pencil  creates ;  the  sponge 
destroys.  It  is  an  excellent  destroyer.  How  often 
young  brains  have  toiled  hard,  and  small  fingers  have 
worked  wearily  to  build  castles  and  pyramids  of  fig- 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


Sponge   Fishing. 

ures  which  the  sponge,  with  a 
single  stroke,  has  wiped  out  of 
existence ! 

The  sponge  is  always  a  friend 
to  cleanliness.  It  helps  to  for- 
get mistakes,  and  in  this  way 
soothes  wounded  feelings.  It  has 
wiped  out  a  great  many  wrongs — 
wrong  figures,  wrong  answers, 
wrong  writing,  wrong  spelling, 
and  innumerable  scrawls  and 
awkward  pictures  which  thought- 
less pencils  have  inscribed  upon 
the  abused  surface  of  the  slate. 
It  would  comfort  us  if  we  could 
as  easily  and  completely  erase 
the  marks  of  our  wrong  deeds 
from  ourselves  and  from  others. 

Perhaps  it  has  never  occurred 
to  the  girls  and  boys  who  have 
so  often  used  the  sponge  to  cleanse 
their  slates  and  their  reputations, 


A    BUSY    SKELETON.  13 

that  they  were  handling  a  skeleton.  Ordinarily  a  skel- 
eton is  considered  a  disagreeable  thing  for  a  compan- 
ion;  but  the  sponge  is  a  skeleton  as  truly  as  if  it  were 
the  naked  bones  of  a  fish  or  a  cat.  And  this  starts 
up  another  thought  about  the  sponge.  Our  work  in 
the  world  must  be  done  while  we  are  alive ;  after  we 
die,  our  bones  are  useless.  The  sponge,  while  it  lives, 
does  no  work  except  tp  take  its  food.  When  it  dies 
its  usefulness  begins.  Then  it  is  that  its  skeleton,  not 
only  in  the  school-room,  but  in  many  of  the  world's 
arts,  becomes  a  busy,  useful,  durable  helper. 

It  may  now  occur  to  the  reader  who  has  never  be- 
fore thought  of  it,  that  the  natural  history  of  the 
sponge  may  be  even  more  interesting  than  its  school 
history.  What  is  the  sponge  ?  will  be  an  attractive 
question  to  answer,  after  describing  the  different  kinds 
of  sponges  and  how  they  are  obtained. 

The  men  in  the  picture  represent  Dalmatians.  They 
are  fishing  for  sponges.  From  these  hints  it  is  easy 
to  conclude  that  sponges  live  in  water,  and  in  a  par- 
ticular body  of  water  which  may  be  found  by  consult- 
ing the  map.  Do  not,  however,  rashly  conclude  that 
sponges  are  fishes.  Oysters  and  pearls  are  said  to  be 
' 'fished,"  yet  no  one  should  really  think  they  are 
fishes. 

There  are  sponges  which  live  in  fresh  water,  but 
they  are  not  the  kind  which  we  are  now  speaking  of. 
The  useful  sponges  come  from  the  shores  of  the  Med- 
iterranean and  Red  seas,  from  the  Florida  coast,  and 
from  the  Bahama  Islands.  There  are  three  principal 
kinds  of  sponges  that  are  gathered  for  sale.  The  large 
horse  or  bath  sponge  is  from  the  Mediterranean  and 


14  LIVING    CREATURES. 

the  Bahamas.  The  second  kind  includes  the  zimocca 
of  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  yellow,  or  hard-head 
sponges  of  American  waters.  These  are  all  dense, 
thick,  and  hard.  The  third  kind  is  the  finest,  softest, 
and  most  delicate  of  all,  and  is  the  Turkish  toilet 
sponge. 

The  men  in  the  boat  are  supposed  to  be  fishing  with 
a  five-pronged  spear  or  harpoon.  The  water  must  be 
very  quiet  to  enable  them  to  see  their  game  fifty  or 
sixty  feet  below  the  surface.  The  most  ancient  way 
of  getting  sponges  was  by  diving.  To  this  method 
the  Greek  sponge-fishers  were  trained  from  childhood. 
The  diver  had  a  stone  slab  fastened  to  his  feet,  and 
the  end  of  a  long  rope  tied  about  his  waist.  A  net, 
or  game-bag,  to  hold  the  sponges,  was  hung  from  his 
neck.  When  he  reached  the  bottom,  he  snatched  all 
the  sponges  he  could  see  and  quickly  grasp ;  then  he 
pulled  on  his  rope  to  announce  that  he  was  ready,  and 
was  lifted  to  the  boat.  Sometimes,  after  descending 
to  the  depth  of  a  hundred  feet  or  more,  the  diver 
would  reach  the  surface  in  a  swoon  and  bleeding  at 
the  nose. 

One  method  by  which  sponges  are  now  gathered  is 
by  dredging  or  scraping  the  bottom  of  the  shallow  sea- 
coast  with  a  net.  The  Greeks,  however,  use  the  div- 
ing dress.  This,  in  appearance,  is  something  like  the 
ancient  coat  of  mail.  It  is  air-tight  and  incloses  the 
whole  body,  covering  the  head  in  a  helmet  in  which 
are  windows  for  the  eyes  to  look  through.  This 
helmet  is  joined  by  a  rubber  hose  which  reaches  to  a 
boat  on  the  'surface  of  the  water.  A  pump  forces 
fresh  air  through  the  hose  to  the  diver  below. 


A    BUSY    SKELETON. 


PART  2. 

Is.  the  sponge  a  plant  or  an  animal  ?  Looking  at  it 
as  it  sits  on  the  bottom,  one  might  reasonably  take  it 
for  a  sort  of  mushroom,  or  cabbage-head.  Ever  since 
sponges  came  into  use,  and  until  within  a  few  years, 
they  have  been  regarded  as  vegetables.  There  are 
still  thousands  of  people  who  believe  them  to  be  marine 
plants ;  for  the  common  impression  is  that  all  animals 
move  about. 

The  sponge  is  a  real  animal.  This  fact  was  found 
out,  as  thousands  of  wonders  in  nature  have  been 
brought  to  light,  by  indus- 
trious search,  and  by  the  use 
of  sharp  eyes.  It  was  dis- 
covered that  small  pieces 
were  somehow  separated 
from  the  living  sponge,  and 
that  these  chips  floated  away, 
and  began  to  grow  and  move. 
Eggs  were  also  found  in 
sponges  ;  and  from  eggs  come 
animals.  The  little  chips 
and  pieces  of  wool  that 
hatched  from  the  eggs  soon  throw  out  long,  slender 
hairs  which  move  like  oars,  and  paddle  the  tiny  animal 
from  place  to  place. 

Without  eyes  and  without  ears,  the  little  sailor  feels 
its  way  about  in  the  deep  watery  world  by  means  of 
its  hair  legs.  It  will  run  against  plants  and  rocks,  as 
a  blindfolded  child  in  the  game  encounters  chairs  and 


Young  Sponge. 


1 6  LIVING    CREATURES. 

tables.  Then  it  paddles  around  the  obstacle,  and 
shoves  itself  away  into  the  free  water,  asking  help  of 
nobody. 

By  and  by  this  homeless  infant  settles  down  on  the 
sea-bottom  with  its  mouth — if  a  simple  hole  can  be 
called  a  mouth — against  the  place  where  it  is  to  be 
fixed.  It  spreads  out  a  thin,  flat  membrane  which 
drives  out  the  water  beneath  it,  and  then  it  is  held 
down  by  the  weight  of  the  water  above.  Here  it 
grows  into  the  little  cavities  of  the  bottom,  attaches 
itself  firmly,  becomes  an  adult  sponge,  and  ever  after 
remains  fixed,  or  until  some  fisherman  lays  his  hand  or 
spear  upon  it. 

Far  more  absurd  than  the  little  waif  with  thread-like 
legs  is  the  stationary  animal  now  to  be  explained.  It 
has  no  head,  no  tail,  no  legs,  no  arms,  no  eyes,  no 
ears,  no  real  mouth,  no  stomach,  no  heart,  no  lungs, 
no  true  blood.  It  never  moves  from  its  place,  and  yet 
it  is  alive.  It  can  not  go  in  search  of  food,  but  expects 
food  to  come  in  search  of  it.  Fortunately,  the  rolling, 
restless  sea  takes  care  of  it.  There  is  afloat  in  some 
waters  a  mass  of  minute  vegetables  and  animals  so 
small  as  to  be  seen  only  with  the  microscope.  These 
are  the  food  brought  to  the  sedentary  sponge  by  the 
motherly  waves. 

The  living  sponge,  like  the  living  human  body,  has 
its  hard  parts  and  its  soft  parts.  The  hard  parts  of 
our  bodies  are  chiefly  bone ;  taken  together,  we  call 
them  the  skeleton.  The  hard  parts  of  the  sponge  are 
this  porous,  springy  article  which  is  used  on  the  slate 
and  in  the  bath.  This  is  its  skeleton  ;  and  it  is  made 
of  fine,  horny  fibers.  The  soft  parts  of  the  animal 


A    BUSY    SKELETON.  I/ 

have  been  removed  from  it.  They  are  a  jelly-like  sub- 
stance which  lines  all  the  holes  and  pores  of  the  skel- 
eton. Over  the  outside  of  the  sponge  is  a  thin,  net-like 
membrane,  which  opens  and  closes  the  canals  that  run 
their  crooked  course  from  the  middle  of  the  .sponge  to 
its  surface. 

Opening  and  closing  its' many  holes,  to  let  in  and 
throw  out  food,  is  about  all  the  work  the  living  sponge 
does.  The  floating  food  is  admitted  into  a  large  num- 
ber of  tubes  or  canals,  and  is  carried  through  a  thou- 
sand or  more  cavities  which  take  up  the  food  and  di- 
gest it.  After  the  nourishment  of  the  food  has  been 
received,  the  useless  matter  is  carried  out  through  the 
porous  canals,  and  expelled  at  the  surface  of  the 
sponge. 

On  the  water-bottoms  sponges  show  all  sorts  of 
forms.  Some  seem  to  be  made  of  glass  threads.  Some 
are  flat  like  sheets.  Others  are  like  clumps  or  small 
bushes ;  still  others  resemble  vases. 

When  they  are  brought  to  the  surface  by  the  men 
and  boys  who  fish  for  them,  the  sponges  are  thrown 
into  tanks  of  water,  after  which  decay  soon  begins. 
Then  they  are  taken  out  and  all  the  soft,  or  what  was 
living  matter,  is  beaten  out  of  them.  After  this  the 
skeletons  are  dried,  and  are  ready  for  market.  When 
they  reach  the  first  market-center  they  are  further 
cleaned,  are  cut  into  regular  shapes,  and  are  sometimes 
bleached  by  the  use  of  chemicals.  The  sponge  trade 
at  the  principal  European  market  amounts  to  nearly  a 
million  dollars  annually. 

Such  is  a  short,  natural  history  of  a  busy  skeleton, 

or  of  a  bucket  full  of  holes  that  never  leaks. 
L.  c.-2. 


1 8  LIVING    CREATURES. 


3»    JEWEL-MAKERS    AND    ISLAND    BUILDERS. 

FIFTY  years  ago,  a  pretty  ornament  in  the  dress  of 
a  young  'lady  was  a  necklace  made  of  red  coral. 
From  the  same  material  cameos  were  cut,  and  ear-rings 
and  brooches  were  made.  These  jewels  were,  at  one 
time,  expensive.  The  finest  rose-tinted  coral  was  val- 
ued at  six  hundred  dollars  an  ounce.  And  in  those 
days,  when  coral  ornaments  were  so  popular,  there 
were  at  Algeria  alone,  engaged  in  coral  fisheries,  more 
than  three  thousand  men. 


Sprig  of  Tree- coral  Enlarged. 

Now  something  very  strange  has  happened,  and 
coral  jewelry  is  worth  scarcely  any  thing.  Men  have 
invented  to  take  its  place  something  which  is  a  per- 
fect imitation  of  both  ivory  and  coral.  They  call  it 
celluloid.  It  is  made  of  cotton  melted  with  chemicals 
and  pressed  into  bars  or  thin  sheets,  and  often  colored 
with  attractive  tints.  Of  it  are  formed  useful  articles, 
such  as  knife  handles  and  eye-glass  frames,  and  various 
other  things  used  for  ornament.  This  new  cotton 
jewelry  has  destroyed  the  old-time  precious  value  of 
.coral. 

For  a  long  time  even  learned  men  believed  coral  to 
be  a  plant.  After  closer  examination  they  concluded 


JEWEL- MAKERS    AND    ISLAND    BUILDERS.  \Q 

that  it  was  part  plant  and  part  animal.  Still  later 
coral  was  declared  to  be  manufactured  by  insects ;  and 
many  people  at  the  present  time  speak  of  the  "  coral 
insect." 

Coral  is  not  a  plant,  nor  is  it  an  animal-plant.  It  is 
not  manufactured  by  an  insect  or  by  any  other  ani- 
mal. The  living  coral,  as  it  is  found  in  the  sea,  is  an 
animal,  and  the  dead  coral  in  the  necklace  is  a  part 
of  the  skeleton  of  a  once  living  coral.  Here,  then,  is 
an  animal  a  little  like  the  sponge.  It  is  stationary, 
or  fixed  to  a  particular  place.  It  is  a  little  higher  grade 
of  animal  than  the  sponge ;  for,  while  it  has  no  eyes, 
ears,  nose,  or  legs,  it  has  a  simple  mouth,  a  stomach, 
and  something  like  feet,  all  of  which  the  sponge  does 
not  possess. 

The  preceding  illustration  presents  an  object  quite 
like  a  flower.  It  is  a  sprig  of  a  kind  of  coral  that 
branches  out  like  a  tree.  No  wonder  .people  once 
thought  the  coral  a  plant.  The  petals  or  leaves  of 
the  flower,  however,  are  the  feelers  or  feeders  of  the 
animal.  They  are  called  tentacles.  They  have  also 
been  regarded  as  feet ;  and  because  there  are  many  of 
them  the  animal  was  named  a  polyp,  which  means 
many-footed.  Some  kinds  of  polyps  are  produced  from 
eggs,  and  for  a  while  swim  about. 

The  hole  in  the  middle  of  the  flower  is  the  mouth. 
The  petal-like  tentacles  move ;  and,  when  the  proper 
food  floats  within  reach,  they  grasp  it  and  turn  it  into 
the  mouth.  From  the  mouth  the  food  passes  into  the 
stomach,  from  which  the  nourishment  is  sent  to  every 
part  of  the  polyp,  while  the  useless  matter  is  thrown 
out  again  at  the  mouth.  When  danger  approaches, 


2O  LIVING    CREATURES. 

the  tentacles  fold  in  like  the  petals  of  a  morning-glory, 
and  close  the  mouth. 

From  the  food  which  it  takes,  the  soft  part  of  the 
polyp  is  grown,  and  the  hard  part,  or  coral,  is  pro- 
duced precisely  as  our  flesh  and  bones  are  made  from 

the  things  we  eat.  Only,  in 
the  case  of  the  coral  animal, 
too  much  of  the  stony  bone 
is  produced,  and  the  living 
polyp  is  constantly  growing 
up,  and  leaving  the  hard  skel- 
eton behind  as  a  dead  stem. 
A  bud  puts  forth  near  the 
base  of  the  polyp,  and  soon 
another  animal  blossoms  out 

Red  Coral  Magnified.  wjth    petals    Qr   tentades 

So  the  budding  and  blossoming  of  these  flower-ani- 
mals goes  on  until  many  polyps,  together  with  the 
dead  stems  of  coral  that  support  them,  make  a  branch 
like  the  twig  of  a  tree ;  or  they  crowd  into  a  clump 
like  a  half-round  stone,  or  a  plum-pudding.  One  of 
these  clump-like  corals  covers  its  surface  with  starry 
flower  forms.  Another  appears  like  a  round  mass  of 
human  brains,  and  is  called  brain-coral. 

PART  2. 

How  the  beautiful  corals  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea 
get  their  delicate  pink,  and  rich,  red  tints,  can  not  be 
known,  as  no  one  can  tell  how  roses  acquire  their 
charming  colors.  By  growing  stems  or  skeletons  of 
such  fine  texture  and  attractive  hues,  coral  polyps  may 


JEWEL-MAKERS    AND    ISLAND    BUILDERS. 


21 


be  justly  called  jewelers  of  the  sea.  But  some  kinds  of 
coral  animals  do  even  a  greater  thing  than  to  prepare 
their  bodies  to  adorn  a  maiden's  neck ;  they  pile  their 
skeletons  in  such  vast  heaps  and  so  high,  that  islands 
are  formed  upon  which  trees  grow,  and  animals,  and 
even  men,  live.  The  Bermuda  Islands  in  the  Atlantic 
are  raised  on  coral  beds ;  and  coral  reefs  are  thrown 
out  around  the  Florida  coasts. 
The  most  interesting  of  coral 
islands  are  in  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  island  builders,  though 
too  coarse  and  dull  in  their  hard 
parts  to  answer  for  ornaments, 
are  none  the  less  beautiful  in 
their  forms.  They  live  in  trop- 
ical waters  which  never  grow 
colder  than  summer  warmth. 
They  can  not  live  in  a  depth 
of  water  greater  than  about  one 
hundred  and  eighty  feet.  How, 
then,  can  they  rear  islands  from 
the  bottom  of  the  sea  ? 

Geography  tells  us  that  on 
the  sea-bottom  rest  hills  and  mountains  like  the  eleva- 
tions which  rise  on  the  dry  land.  Some  of  these 
mountains  are  very  lofty,  and  upon  them  are  caught 
and  gathered  immense  quantities  of  dead  shells,  and 
rubbish  that  floats  in  the  ocean.  In  this  way  these 
mountains  lift  their  heads  higher  and  higher;  and 
when  one  of  them  comes  within  two  hundred  feet  of 
the  surface,  the  coral  polyps  begin  to  fasten  upon  it, 
and  to  make  it  their  home. 


Reef-coral  and  Polyp. 


22  LIVING    CREATURES. 

Here  they  live  and  multiply,  fed,  like  the  sponge, 
by  the  surging  waters ;  and  they  climb  up  on  the 
ever  dying  skeletons  of  those  that  have  lived  before 
them,  until  they  reach  the  surface.  All  this  time, 
which  must  be  a  very  great  many  years,  the  dashing 
of  the  water  has  constantly  broken  and  crumbled  the 
coral,  so  that  the  holes  and  cracks  have  been  filled, 
and  the  wall  is  solid. 

The  little  flower-animals,  some  of  which  are  exceed- 
ingly small,  love  to  throw  out  their  petal-tentacles  in 
the  free,  rushing  water,  where  their  food  is  most 
abundant.  This  leads  them  to  crowd  to  the  edge  of 
the  island,  so  that  when  their  work,  which  is  called  a 
reef,  reaches  the  surface  of  the  water,  it  is  in  the 
shape  of  a  ring  or  a  horseshoe.  In  the  middle  of 
the  ring  is  a  quiet  lake,  called  a  lagoon. 

When  the  reef  rises  near  to  the  surface  of  the  water, 
the  corals  begin  a  rough  experience.  Then  they  crum- 
ble and  break  off  by  the  force  of  the  waves  that  dash 
over  them,  and  are  heaped  up  above  the  level  of  the 
water.  The  waves  grind  the  surface  into  soil.  Seeds 
are  wafted  from  far  distant  shores  and  find  this  soil. 
Trees  and  flowers  grow ;  and  could  you  ascend  with 
the  eagle  and  look  down,  you  would  see  this  coral 
reef  lying  like  a  leafy  wreath  on  the  bosom  of  the 
ocean,  beautiful,  strong,  but  made  of  skeletons. 

Somehow  birds  find  these  lonely  coral  islands  of  the 
Pacific.  On  one  of  them,  where  no  human  beings 
dwell,  Professor  Dana,  of  Yale,  found  multitudes  of 
birds  who  had  no  fear  of  man.  No  hunters  with 
noisy  guns  had  ever  disturbed  their  peace.  No  heart- 
less boys  had  broken  their  eggs  or  snatched  away  their 


AMONG   THE    SHELLS.  23 

• 

young.  He  plucked  them  from  the  branches  as  one 
picks  fruit.  "And  many  a  songster,"  he  says,  ''lost 
a  tail-feather  as  it  sat  perched  upon  a  branch,  appar- 
ently unconscious  that  the  world  contained  an  enemy. " 


4.    AMONG  THE   SHELLS. 

FEW  eyes  that  read  these  lines  have  never  seen 
shells.  They  abound  in  nearly  all  waters  and  in  the 
moist  places  of  the  land.  The  surf  of  the  ocean  and 
the  waves  of  the  lakes  wash  them  upon  the  beach. 
They  lie  on  the  bottoms  of  ponds  and  rivers,  hide  in 
gutters  and  gardens,  and  show  their  white  whorls  by 
the  roadside.  Some  of  the  great  rocks  are  made  of 
myriads  of  minute  shells  that  once  covered  soft,  living 
animals. 

If  those  who  Jive  in  the  crowded  city  have  never 
seen  these  creatures  in  their  natural  haunts,  they  may 
find  them  in  temporary  boarding  places.  In  some 
eating-houses  there  are  at  certain  seasons  large  piles 
of  oysters  dripping  with  melting  ice.  These  are  usu- 
ally alive  until  they  are  forced  open.  The  half  shell 
with  its  white  lining  and  black  center-spot  may  be 
easily  obtained.  The  pearl-lined  clam  shells  have  often 
served  little  girls  for  dishes,  as  they  served  savages 
thousands  of  years  ago. 

Then  there  are  pearl  buttons,  knife  handles,  and 
card-cases  in  show-windows,  and  jewelry  set  with 
rare  pearls  glistening  in  show-cases.  All  these  may 
be  seen  and  enjoyed' without  cost.  Who  ever  stops. 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


to  think  that  they  are  somehow  related  to  the  oys- 
ter? Yes,  these  pretty  objects  in  the  show-case  have 
come  from  shell-animals,  the  story  of  whose  birth  and 
life  is  well  worth  reading. 


To  make  the  story  more  real  and  impressive,  get 
some  shells  and  study  them.  You  may  play  with  them 
and  yet  know  little  about  them.  I  have  seen  little  girls 
on  the  clean  beach  of  the  lake  shore  gathering  with 


AMONG    THE    SHELLS.  2$ 

delight  the  small,  conical  shells  which  they  are  taught 
to  call  periwinkles.  Are  they  periwinkles?  Quite 
different  from  them  are  the  periwinkles  described  by 
Charles  Dickens  in  some  of  his  stories.  These  are 
shell-animals  which  poor  people  gather  at  the  salt 
water,  and  after  cooking  them,  pick  out  the  meat  with 
a  crooked  pin. 

It  would  be  absurd  to  say  that  boys  in  the  country, 
especially  if  they  are  near  creeks  or  rivers,  can  not 
find  fresh-water  clams  or  mussels.  A  little  wading  in 
shallow  water  tempered  by  the  sun  may  be  required ; 
but  wading  is  not  a  great  trial  to  the  average  boy. 
Snails  anybody  may  find.  Empty  snail  shells  abound, 
which  may  be  examined  without  and  within  to  see 
how  curiously  they  are  wrought.  Living  snails  may 
be  captured  in  their  hiding  places. 

With  these  shell-animals  in  hand,  something  may  be 
learned.  The  oyster  and  the  sea-clam  will  not  perform 
before  their  captors,  they  are  so  shy.  With  a  strong 
knife,  however,  they  may  be  easily  opened,  if  one 
knows  how  to  do  it.  The  fresh-water  clam,  if  laid  in 
water,  will  probably  open  its  shell.  The  snail,  when 
placed  in  a  shallow  dish  and  surrounded  by  tepid  water, 
will  come  out  of  its  twisted  house. 

Something  common  to  all  these  animals  may  now 
be  learned ;  namely,  they  live  in  hard  shells  and  their 
bodies  are  entirely  soft.  A  good  way  to  prove  that 
clams  and  oysters  are  soft  is  to  eat  them.  They  could 
not  slip  so  easily  over  the  tongue  if  they  had  bones. 
Now  for  these,  and  for  all  their  soft,  shell-covered 
cousins,  we  have  a  convenient  word.  They  are  called 
mollusks.  This  is  a  good  name  for  soft  things,  you 


26  LIVING    CREATURES. 

will  say,  when  you  remember  that  when  a  hard  piece 
of  leather  or  a  rough  temper  is  softened,  it  is  said  to 
be  mollified. 

Something  further  must  be  observed.  The  shells 
of  the  fresh-water  clam,  the  salt-water  clam,  and  the 
oyster  open  like  a  book  with  a  hinge  at  its  back. 
Break  the  hinge  and  there  are  two  shells  nearly  alike. 
The  snail  shell  can  not  be  opened  in  this  way.  It  is 
single,  and  looks  as  if  it  had  been  whirled  or  twisted. 

It  is  plain  that,  besides  protecting  them  against  vio- 
lence, these  shells  are  designed  in  part  to  shut  the 
water  out  and  to  shut  the  soft  animals,  or  mol- 
lusks,  in.  Opening  and  closing  perfectly  light,  they 
act  like  the  valves  of  a  pump.  They  are,  there- 
fore, called  valves.  The  clam,  mussel,  and  oyster, 
having  two  shells,  are  called  bi-valves.  The  snail 
and  its  kin,  having  but  one  shell,  are  called  uni-valves. 
There  is  a  long  list  of  shell  animals  that  are  clam-like, 
and  a  long  and  brilliant  one  that  are  snail-like. 


5.   THE   CLAM. 

ABOUT  the  year  1626,  John  Smith,  the  founder  of 
Virginia  and  the  author  of  the  charming  story  of 
Pocahontas,  wrote  a  book  about  his  adopted  country. 
In  this  book  he  describes  the  natural  attractions  of 
Virginia ;  and  among  other  good  things,  he  mentions 
the  mollusk  which  is  the  subject  of  this  chapter. 
"You  shall  scarce  find,"  says  he,  ''any  bay  or  shallow 


THE    CLAM. 


shore,  or  cove  of  sand,  where  you  may  not  take  many 
clamps."  This  shows  that  the  clam  was  once  called  a 
clamp — an  appropriate  name,  as  we  shall  see. 

The  long  clam  and  the  round  clam  are  those  which 
John  Smith  referred  to.  Sometimes  these  animals  may 
be  found  with  their  valves  open.  In  this  condition, 
should  a  finger  be  inserted  into  the  opening,  the  two 
valves  of  the  shell  will  instant- 
ly close ;  and  if  the  finger  is 
caught,  its  owner  will  know  by 
experience  that  the  clam  is  a 
clamp — a  very  close  pinching 
clamp.  Oysters  are  still  more 
severe  pinchers;  hence  they 
might  also  have  been  named 
clamps. 

To  speak  intelligently  of 
the  clam,  its  various  parts 
must  be  named.  The  two 
half  shells  have  already  been 
called  valves.  Looking  at  the 
figure,  the  thick  edge  of  the  closed  shell  is  the  back 
(b).  Each  of  the  knobs  on  the  back  is  called  an  umbo ; 
together  they  are  called  umbones.  Between  the  um- 
bones  on  the  back  is  the  hinge.  The  sharp  edge 
is  the  ventral  edge  (v).  The  large  end  of  the  whole 
shell  is  the  front  end  (/);  and  the  smaller  end  is  the 
rear  end  (r).  Holding  the  shell  with  its  back  up  and 
the  rear  end  toward  you,  the  valve  on  the  right-hand 
side  is  the  right  valve,  and  the  other  is  the  left  valve. 
The  largest  half  shell  of  the  oyster  is  always  the  left 
valve,  and  lies  downward. 


Long  Clam. 


28 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


The  long  clam  burrows  in  the  sand,  as  John  Smith 
intimated.  How  a  shell  can  do  such  work  could  never 
be  guessed  if  it  were  always  found  closed.  Here  then 
is  a  picture  of  the  clam  in  action 
precisely  as  it  works  in  the  sand. 
Its  front  end  is  down,  its  rear 
end  is  up.  But  what  is  the  long 
thing  sticking  up,  and  the  short- 
er thing  sticking  down?  The 
former  is  called  the  neck,  and 
the  latter  the  foot.  Leaving  the 
neck  to  be  described  further  on, 
let  us  look  at  this  foot. 

A  remarkable  member  is  the 
foot.  It  never  walks.  It  only 
digs ;  and  it  digs  so  rapidly,  that 
one  trying  to  catch  this  clam  with 
a  hoe  must  work  briskly,  or  the 
foot  will  bore  its  hole  in  the  sand 
faster  than  the  hoe  can  uncover 
it.  The  fresh-water  clam,  or  mus- 
sel, uses  its  foot  for  furrowing  or 
plowing  the  bottom,  but  never 
for  burrowing.  Besides  acting  as 
a  spade  or  auger,  this  foot  carries 
the  ear  of  the  clam.  At  the 
slightest  noise,  the  foot  and  neck 
are  drawn  in,  and  the  shell  is 
ciam  m  Action.  closed.  There  is  another  and 

still  stranger  thing  about  the  clam's  foot.  It  is  close 
by  the  brains  of  the  animal.  Therefore  Rev.  Mr. 
Lockwood  pleasantly  says  of  the  long  clam's  brother, 


THE    CLAM.  29 

the  fresh-water  mussel,  or  river-clam,  "the  mussel's 
brain  is  at  the  base  of  the  understanding,  that  is,  ex- 
actly under  the  foot." 

To  understand  the  clam  animal,  we  must  look 
within  its  shell.  This  is  opened  by  running  a  knife- 
blade  between  the  valves.  How  monkeys  and  apes 
on  the  wild  coast  open  them  without  knives,  we  are 
not  informed.  The  ancients  tell  a  story  of  monkeys 
watching  the  clam  or  oyster  until  it  opened  itself,  and 
then  inserting  a  little  stone  to  prevent  its  closing. 

The  knife,  when  used  for  this  purpose,  must  pass 
within,  and  along  the  back,  and  cut  two  tough  straps 
that  hold  the  valves  together.  Then  the  shell  will 
open  on  its  hinge,  and  the  two  valves  will  lie  back  like 
the  two  covers  of  a  book.  Now  we  have  the  book 
opened,  (page  31),  and  we  must  see  what  it  contains. 

Laying  aside  the  right  cover  or  valve,  here  is  the 
soft  animal  lying  on  its  bed  of  pearl  in  the  left  valve. 
The  first  thing  to  notice  is  a  slippery,  filmy  cloak 
which  wraps  the  animal  as  a  water-proof  sometimes 
wraps  a  school-girl.  This  leathery  cloak  is  called  the 
mantle.  In  its  edge  (e)  is  the  sense  of  feeling;  quite 
likely,  also,  the  sense  of  sight. 

Lay  back  the  mantle,  and  there  is  exposed  the  foot 
(/)  now  drawn  in.  At  the  rear  end  is  the  long,  ex- 
tended neck  which  includes  two  tubes,  or  siphons. 
The  siphons  of  the  fresh-water  clam  are  not  joined, 
and  extend  at  different  points  in  the  shell.  Through 
the  lower  tube  (Y)  the  water  flows  in  to  feed  the  clam. 
Through  the  upper  tube  (<?)  the  same  water  passes  out 
after  the  animal  has  used  the  food  it  contains. 

Those  who  dig  for  clams  on  the  sea  coast,  find  out 


3<D  LIVING  CREATURES. 

what  this  siphon  is  for.  Often  the  active  little  mol- 
lusk,  as  it  burrows  away  from  the  hoe,  throws  a  stream 
of  water  into  the  face  of  the  digger. 

PART  2. 

HUNT  around  now  for  the  mouth.  You  might  ex- 
pect it  to  be  near  the  end  of  the  neck,  where  most  ani- 
mals have  their  mouths.  But  no ;  it  is  at  the  opposite 
end  of  the  clam,  not  far  from  the  foot.  It  is  only  an 
opening  (m).  The  clam  has  no  teeth,  no  tongue,  in 
fact  no  head.  Away  up  under  the  hinge  is  its  heart 
(//).  Its  food  consists  of  animals  and  plants  floating 
in  the  water.  These  are  invisible  except  through  the 
microscope. 

The  water  that  enters  by  the  inflowing  siphon  (i) 
carries  this  food  to  the  mouth  (in).  As  the  water, 
which  carries  air  as  well  as  food,  flows  toward  the 
mouth,  it  passes  over  the  gills  (g)  by  which  the  clam 
breathes ;  for  clams  must  breathe.  There  are  four  of 
these  gills,  and  they  are  filled  with  small,  thin  tubes 
into  which  the  cold,  white  blood  of  the  clam  flows, 
and  takes  the  air  from  the  water  on  its  way  to  the 
mouth. 

The  gills  do  for  the  clam  what  the  lungs  do  for  the 
reader,  as  is  simply  explained  in  the  little  book  en- 
titled, "The  House  I  Live  In."  The  smelling  nerve 
of  the  clam  is  not  far  from  where  the  siphon  joins  the 
g;lls  (#).  It  is  used  to  detect  the  character  of  the 
water  which  flows  to  the  gills. 

It  is  rather  strange  to  find  the  mouth  of  an  animal 
at  one  end,  and  the  neck  and  nose  at  the  opposite  end ; 


THE   CLAM.  31 

but  any  absurd  thing  may  be  expected  in  a  creature 
whose  ears  and  brains  are  about  its  foot.  Still  another 
fact  is  brought  to  light  through  the  microscope.  For 
both  air  and  food,  the  clam  must  have  an  almost  con- 
stant stream  of  water  running  into  it ;  and  to  carry 
away  the  food  it  rejects,  and  the  impurities  of  its 
blood,  it  must  have  a  steady  stream  going  out. 

To  keep  the  water  moving  both  in  and  out,  the  in- 
side of  the  siphon  is  covered  with  minute  hairs  which, 
by  constant  motion  like-  little  paddles,  pull  and  push 


Fig.  I.  Showing  the  Clam  -within  the  Shell. 

the  water  along.  The  gills  are  covered  by  these  hair 
paddles.  The  mouth  is  surrounded  by  them,  and  all 
together  they  keep  the  water  in  motion.  In  the  out- 
flowing siphon  the  same  kind  of  hairs  work  the  other 
way,  and  move  the  waste  water  out. 

What  now  is  meant  by  the  saying,  "  As  happy  as  a 
clam"?  Like  the  sponge,  the  clam  never  goes  in 
search  of  food.  The  food  must  come  to  the  clam. 
When  the  ocean  tide  is  out,  the  clam  is  left  in  its  hole 
on  the  dry  beach.  It  grows  hungry  during  the  six 
hours  of  low  tide.  Up  near  to  the  top  of  the  hole  it 


32  LIVING    CREATURES. 

rises,  and  stretches  out  its  siphon  for  the  first  ripple 
of  food-laden  water,  as  a  child  holds  out  its  hand  for 
bread. 

Very  likely,  too,  it  puts  out  its  foot  with  a  rude  ear 
on  it,  to  catch  the  music  of  the  advancing  surf  as  the 
tide  creeps  up  the  beach.  By  and  by  it  comes — the 
richly  freighted  water — with  the  joy  of  fresh  air  and 
fresh  food  in  every  drop  ;  and  the  clam  is  happy.  The 
entire  proverb,  therefore,  is,  ' '  As  happy  as  a  clam  in 
high  water." 


6.  THE  CLAM'S  SHELL. 

THE  shell  is  an  admirable  house  for  a  body  so  soft, 
without  a  bone  in  it,  and  absolutely  defenseless.  So 
strong  is  it  tjiat  a  heavy  weight  will  not  crush  it.  So 
hard  is  it  that  the  horny  bill  of  a  fish-hawk  can  not 
penetrate  it.  When  they  want  to  break  the  shell  of 
a  mollusk,  birds  are  wont  to  take  it  in  the  beak,  and, 
flying  to  a  considerable  height,  to  let  it  fall  upon  a 
rock.  Besides  being  strong  and  tight  when  closed, 
the  shell  is  lined  with  a  pearly  and  perfectly  smooth 
surface  for  the  delicate  mantle  to  lie  upon. 

It  is  now  known  how  the  clam's  shell  grows.  The 
same  sea-water  that  furnishes  lime  for  the  skeleton  of 
the  coral,  carries  lime  for  the  shell  of  the  mollusk. 
The  river  and  the  creek  also  contain  this  material.  It 
might  be  supposed  that  the  shell  would  somehow  grow, 
and  then  the  tender  mollusk  would  in  some  way  be 
born  within  it.  The  contrary,  however,  is  true.  The 


THE    CLAM  S    SHELL. 


33 


mollusk  is  hatched  from  an  egg,  and  is  surrounded  by 
its  mantle.  This  mantle  has  the  wonderful  power  of 
taking  or  secreting  lime  from  the  water  and  turning  it 
into  hard  shell. 

The  shell  begins  to  grow  at  the  hinge,  and  increases 
as  fast  as  the  animal  grows.  The  manner  of  this 
growth  is  like  that  of  shingling  a  roof  backwards  from 
the  ridge  to  the  eaves.  First,  one  little  circular  layer 
of  shell  is  made  at  the  hinge.  Then  as  the  animal 
grows,  another  still  larger  layer  or  shingle  pushes  out 
from  under  the  first.  And  so  on,  as  showrn  in  Fig.  3, 
each  bit  of  growth  leaving  its  definite  line  on  the  out- 
side of  the  shell,  while  the  inside  is  spread  over  with 
a  polished  coat  of  pearl. 

This  is  the  place  to  speak  of  the  way  in  which  the 
clam  opens  and  closes  its  shell.  Suppose,  as  in  the 
figures,  two  shells  cut 
through  both  valves 
so  as  to  take  a  cross 
slice  or  section  from 
each.  The  pieces  will 
then  show  the  way  in 
which  the  layers  of 
growth  have  been  add- 
ed, each  one  extend- 
ing from  under  the 
preceding  one.  They  also  show  the  contrivances  for 
opening  and  closing  the  shell  in  the  salt-water  clam 
and  in  the  fresh-water  clam,  or  mussel. 

If  you  put  a  piece  of  rubber  inside  a  book  close 
to  its  hinge,  the  book  may  be  closed  by  pressing  the 
covers  together,  but  it  will  not  stay  shut,  because  the 

L.  C.-3. 


Fig.  2. 
Section  of  Clam. 


Fig-.  3. 
Section  of  Mussel. 


34 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


rubber  is  elastic.  Something  like  such  a  piece  of 
rubber  is  a  ligament  under  the  hinge  of  the  salt-water 
clam,  as  shown  in  Figure  2  (/).  If  you  open  a  book 
and  fasten  the  covers  open  by  a  rubber  strap  running 
over  the  outside  of  the  back,  you  can  only  close  it  by 
force,  and  then  it  will  open  again  as  soon  as  you  let 
it  go.  In  the  same  way  an  elastic  ligament  on  the 
outside  of  the  fresh-water  clam  (Fig.  3  /)  draws  the 
valves  open.  In  the  salt-water  clam  the  ligament  pushes 
the  valves  open,  and  in  the  fresh-water  clam  the  liga- 
ment pulls  the  valves  open. 


Little  Neck  Clam. 


This  is  just  what  the  clams  want  to  make  them 
happy — to  be  kept  open  without  effort,  so  that  the 
nourishing  water  may  always  flow  in.  To  close  their 
valves  they  must  put  forth  an  effort;  and  this  is  the 
way  they  work.  Inside  the  shell  two  strong  muscles 
pass  from  one  valve  to  the  other.  One  of  these  mus- 
cles (m)  is  shown  in  each  of  the  two  figures  just  now 
before  us.  It  is  called  an  adductor  muscle,  adductor 


SOME    USES    OF  CLAMS.  35 

meaning  that  which  brings  to.  In  the  figure  on  page 
31,  the  places  of  both  the  adductor  muscles  of  the 
clam  are  indicated  (am). 

It  is  easy  to  see  why,  when  a  clam  is  opened  with 
a  knife,  the  knife  must  be  passed  along  the  valve  near 
the  front  and  back ;  this  is  to  cut  the  two  adductor 
muscles.  Even  with  one  of  these  muscles  the  clam 
will  close  its  shell,  as  an  omnibus  driver  shuts  the  door 
of  his  carriage  by  his  foot-strap. 

A  brother  of  the  long  clam  is  the  round  clam,  some- 
times called  hard-shell,  or  little-neck-clam.  Its  awk- 
ward foot  is  pushing  out  below  and  in  front.  It  does 
not  dig,  but  hitches  along  by  means  of  this  foot.  Its 
short  neck,  or  siphons,  stretch  out  behind  and  above, 
one  with  a  fringe  of  hairs  to  paddle  the  water  in,  and 
the  other  with  the  same  kind  of  hairs  to  paddle  the 
water  out. 


7.    SOME    USES    OF    CLAMS. 

THE  largest  of  all  shell  animals  is  the  giant-clam. 
It  is  produced  in  tropical  seas,  and  particularly  in  the 
region  of  Sumatra.  The  famous  Swedish  naturalist 

o 

Linnaeus,  who  lived  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago, 
describes  one  of  these  clams  which  weighed  four  hun- 
dred and  ninety-eight  pounds.  The  mollusk  within  the 
shell  furnished  a  day's  food  for  one  hundred  and 
twenty  men.  So  great  was  the  strength  of  its  muscle, 
that  by  suddenly  closing  its  valves  it  cut  the  cable  of 
a  ship  in  two. 


36  LIVING    CREATURES. 

The  giant-clam  is  valuable  to  the  South  Sea  Island- 
ers. Besides  providing  an  important  part  of  their 
food,  its  valves  are  of  great  practical  use.  On  some 
of  these  islands  stones  are  unknown.  Here  the  na- 
tives can  not  make  stone  weapons  and  implements  as 
did  the  savages  of  more  favored  regions ;  hence  the 
giant-clam  shell  is  a  great  blessing  to  them.  From  it 
they  make  their  knives,  hammers,  axes,  and  weapons 
of  war. 

The  giant-clam  shell  is  convenient  as  a  receptacle. 
How  immense  it  is !  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  who  accompa- 
nied Capt.  Cook  on  his  voyage  in  1768,  possessed  a 
monster  shell,  one  valve  of  which  weighed  two  hundred 
and  twenty-two  pounds,  while  the  other  valve  weighed 
two  hundred  and  eighty-five  pounds. 

This  shell  is  lined  with  a  beautiful,  white,  pearl 
coating;  and  when  the  rough  exterior  is  removed,  the 
valve  is  something  quite  ornamental.  Many  years  ago 
a  giant-clam  shell  was  presented  to  the  Church  of  St. 
Sulpice  in  Paris.  The  valves  of  this  shell  are  used  to 
contain  the  holy  water. 

A  pleasant  use  of  clams  is  observed  in  an  old  cus- 
tom called  the  "New  England  Clam  Bake."  It  ap- 
pears that  the  savages  who  inhabited  New  England 
from  time  immemorial,  were  accustomed  to  gather  at 
the  sea-shore  for  great  clam  feasts.  Both  claim  and 
oysters,  as  any  one  might  conclude,  cease  to  hold  their 
valves  together  the  moment  they  begin  to  be  cooked. 
Therefore  it  was  easy  for  Indians,  who  had  no  knives, 
to  open  their  shell  fish  by  heat. 

The  modern  clam  bake,  which  is  observed  at  several 
points  on  the  coast,  but  particularly  on  the  coast  of 


SOME    USES   OF    CLAMS. 


37 


Rhode  Island,  is  quite  closely  copied  from  the  feast  of 
the  Indians.  These  natives  were  accustomed,  on  such 
occasions,  to  invite  to  the  assembly  kings,  chiefs,  and 
other  dignitaries.  In  this  respect,  as  well  as  in  the 
manner  of  roasting  the  bivalves,  the  custom  of  to-day 
follows  that  of  the  savages.  The  clam  bake  brings 


Indian  Clam  Bake. 

together  a  large  party  of  people,  and  quite  often  is 
held  in  honor  of  distinguished  persons,  much  like  the 
barbecue  of  the  South,  at  which  great  people  and  small 
people  come  together  to  feast '  upon  ox,  sheep,  and 
shote,  roasted  whole. 

And  this  is  the  way  the   clam   bake  proceeds.     A 


38  LIVING    CREATURES. 

circular  floor  of  stones,  perhaps  ten  feet  in  diameter, 
is  laid  on  the  beach.  On  this  a  fire  is  kindled  and 
fed  until  the  stones  are  red  hot.  A  layer  of  sea-weed 
is  spread  on  the  stones,  and  upon  this  clams  are  placed 
to  a  depth  of  two  or  three  inches.  Over  these  is  scat- 
tered another  cover  of  sea-weed.  Then  comes  a  layer 
of  green  corn  in  the  husk,  with  potatoes  and  other 
vegetables.  After  more  sea-weed,  dressed  chickens 
are  added  to  the  pile,  and  are  often  followed  in  the 
same  manner  by  oysters  and  lobsters.  To  make  the 
cooking  more  thorough  and  toothsome,  a  canvas  or 
tarpaulin,  is  stretched  over  the  steaming  heap. 


8.    THE    OYSTER. 

WHEN  the  oyster  is  laid  open  and  placed  by  the  side 
of  the  clam  or  mussel,  it  is  at  once  seen  that  the  two 
are  in  many  points  alike,  and  deserve  to  be  called  cous- 
ins. The  shell  of  the  oyster  is  bivalve — a  book  with 
two  covers — and  has  the  elastic  ligament  inside  the 
hinge  to  spring  it  open.  Its  shingly  growth  is  readily 
observed,  but  it  is  a  rough,  ugly  looking  shell.  It 
grows  narrow  near  the  hinge,  and  the  left  valve,  from 
holding  fast  to  the  sea-bottom,  is  much  larger  than  the 
right  valve. 

On  the  inside  of  the  clam  shell  were  pointed  out 
two  spots,  one  at  each  end  near  the  back,  where  were 
attached  the  two  strong  adductor  muscles  which  close 
the  shell.  On  the  white  lining  of  the  oyster  shell  but 
one  such  spot  appears.  It  is  of  a  dark  purple  color, 


THE   OYSTER.  39 

and  is  near  the  middle  of  the  valve.  The  oyster  has 
but  one  adductor  muscle,  and  this  is  an  immensely 
strong  one.  It  joins  the  valves  where  the  round  pur- 
ple spots  appear. 

The  oyster  animal  is  nearly  like  the  clam  animal. 
It  is  entirely  soft  and  without  bones — a  true  mollusk. 
The  same  kind  of  a  slippery  mantle  lies  between  it  and 
the  inside  of  the  shell,  though  this  mantle  does  not 
completely  envelop  the  mollusk.  The  oyster  has  no 


Oyster  Shells. 

foot.  What  does  it  want  of  a  foot?  It  spends  nearly 
its  whole  life  fastened  to  the  bottom.  Nature  is  very 
economical,  and  would  not  bestow  a  foot  where  one  can 
not  be  used. 

When  the  valves  are  open,  the  mantle  sometimes 
stretches  down  and  throws  its  fringe  beyond  the  lower 
or  ventral  edge  of  the  shell.  In  the  border  of  the 
mantle  is  the  sense  of  touch;  and  here  are  the  eyes, 
if  there  are  any ;  and  the  ears  are  not  far  off.  Oysters 
close  their  valves  at  the  slightest  noise ;  and  a  brush 
of  the  hand  over  the  water  where  they  lie,  when  the 
light  is  strong,  will  produce  the  same  effect.  Along 


40  LIVING    CREATURES. 

the  lower  part  of  the  shell  lie  the  -four  gill-plates  with 
which  the  animal  breathes,  or  takes  air  from  the  water. 
Above  the  gills  is  the  adductor  muscle.  Try  your 
fork  in  it  and  see  how  hard  it  is.  The  oysterman 
must  cut  this  muscle  before  he  can  pry  the  valves 
apart.  He  calls  it  the  heart,  but  it  is  not  a  heart. 
This  latter  organ,  however,  lies  near  by.  It  beats  like 
a  human  heart,  only  much  slower — from  one  to  fifteen 
throbs  in  a  minute.  At  the  front  end  of  the  gills  is 
the  mouth  of  this  headless  animal.  It  is  surrounded 
by  minute  hairs,  or  cilia.  When  the  oyster  is  open  and 
breathing,  the  cilia  all  along  the  gills  and  about  the 
mouth  are  in  motion,  pushing  the  water  into  the 
mouth. 

The  oyster  has  a  small  friend  which,  until  recently, 
was  thought  to  be  an  enemy.  It  is  the  oyster  crab,  a 
greenish  little  creature  when  alive,  but  becoming  red 
when  cooked.  It  is  a  dainty  morsel,  and  was  so  re- 
garded by  George  Washington..  This  little  visitor, 
about  a  half  inch  in  diameter,  walks  in  and  out  of 
the  oyster's  house  at  pleasure ;  for  strangely  enough, 
the  door  seems  to  be  always  open  to  her.  Why 
should  the  oyster,  usually  so 
shy,  admit  this  intruder? 

It  is  found  that  the  crab  is  a 
messmate    of    the    oyster,    and 
comes  in  to  take  her  meals  with 
oyster  crab.  her  hostess,   Mrs.  Oyster.     The 

inflowing  water  which  feeds  the 

oyster  feeds  the  crab.  Then  it  is  a  very  nice  thing  for 
Crab  to  be  inclosed  in  oyster  castle,  when  hunted  by 
her  fierce  enemies. 


THE    OYSTER,  4! 

The  oyster's  food,  like  the  clam's,  includes  minute 
animals  and  plants  visible  only  by  the  aid  of  the  mi- 
croscope. The  same  water  which  brings  these  contains 
larger  bodies  which  the  oyster  can  not  eat.  This 
coarser  fare  suits  little  Crab,  who  devours  it  in  peace 
and  joy,  dropping  many  fine  crumbs  which  its  hostess 
relishes.  So  the  presence  of  the  crab  is  a  benefit  to 
the  oyster;  and  when  it  entertains  a  crab,  the  oyster  is 
likely  to  be  plump  and  happy. 

PART  2. 

To  many  people  the  oyster  appears  most  interest- 
ing when  it  lies  on  the  half  shell,  or  when  it  floats  in 
a  milk-white  stew,  or  when  it  gives  forth  the  pleasant 
odors  of  the  frying  pan.  Thousands  of  years  ago,  sav- 
age men  found  that  oysters  were  good  for  food.  On 
the  shore  of  the  ocean,  they  have  left  immense  heaps 
of  shells  to  testify  to  their  fondness  for  these  delicious 
mollusks.  At  one  point,  on  the  coast  of  Maine,  lies  a 
pile  of  these  shells  measuring  eight  million  cubic  feet. 
Oysters  in  those  far  off  years,  as  these  remains  show, 
were  twice  as  large  as  those  of  the  present  time.  One 
of  them  has  been  found  which  measured  fifteen  inches 
in  length. 

The  American  people  of  to-day  are  great  eaters  of 
oysters.  In  a  single  year,  on  our  coasts,  there  are 
taken  and  sold  more  than  twenty-two  million  bushels 
of  these  bivalves,  making  over  six  billions  three  hun- 
dred millions  of  oysters,  by  count.  Seventy-five  millions 
are  exported  to  foreign  countries,  leaving  more  than 
six  billions  to  be  eaten  by  Americans — which  figures 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


an  average  of  at  least  a  hundred  oysters  to  each  man, 
woman,  and  child.  This  does  not  mean  that  each  gets 
his  hundred. 

How  so  many  are  produced  and  gathered  will  be  an 
interesting  question  to  answer.  The  oyster  is  ready  to 
be  eaten  when  it  is  about  four  or  five  years  old.  Like 


Fig.  4. 


Fig.    5.  Fig. 

Growth  of  Oyster  from  the  Egg. 


the  chicken  and  the  clam,  it  comes  from  an  egg. 

The  mother  oyster  between  the  months  of  May 

and    September    produces  over  nine   millions     Fig- 7- 

of   eggs.      After  lying  in  the  folds  of  the  mantle  for 

a  while,  these  eggs  are  sent  into  the  water  where  the 

wee  things  in  them  at  once  begin  to  grow. 

The  perfect  egg,  greatly  magnified  in  the  illustra- 
tion, is  a  five  hundredth  part  of  an  inch  in  diameter 
(Fig.  4).  When  it  is  three  hours  old  it  assumes  a 
different  shape  (Fig.  5).  When  it  begins  to  swim  it  is 
called  a  "spat"  (Fig.  6).  It  swims  by  the  motion  of 
its  cilia  or  hairs.  When  it  is  nearly  ready  to  settle 
upon  the  bottom  (Fig.  7),  the  shell  has  begun  to  grow 
from  its  mantle,  and  the  cilia  about  where  its  head 
would  be,  if  it  were  fortunate  enough  to  have  a  head, 
are  the  paddles  by  which  it  scuds  about. 

Within  six  days  from  the  time  it  left  its  mother's 
mantle,  the  spat  will-  find  a  congenial  place  on  the  bot- 
tom, fasten  itself  to  an  old  oyster  shell  or  an  old  boot, 
and  there  remain  for  tbe  rest  of  its  life.  Although  such 


THE    OYSTER.  43 

an  immense  number  of  eggs  is  produced  by  a  single 
oyster,  it  is  believed  that  not  one  in  a  million  of  eggs 
ever  comes  to  a  full-grown  mollusk.  A  single  fish  will 
devour  a  million  of  eggs  at  a  mouthful,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  poor,  innocent  little  spats  that  make  nice  fish- 
food.  The  mother  herself  swallows  eggs  without 
knowing  it.  Still  there  are  enough  spats  saved  to 
make  our  six  billions  of  oysters. 

In  their  natural  state,  oysters  live  and  grow  in  beds. 
These  beds  can  only  flourish  in  small  bays,  coves,  and 
inlets  of  the  sea  coast,  protected  from  the  fury  of  the 
ocean  waves  and  from  storms. 
The  water  must  be  neither  too 
cold  nor  too  warm,  and  must 
contain  an  abundance  of  mi- 
croscopical food.  The  places 
where  spats  are  cradled  and 
reared,  therefore,  are  neces- 
sarily few.  There  are  two 
kinds  of  oyster  beds,  the  nat- 
ural and  the  artificial.  In  the 

Oyster  Seed. 

natural  beds,    where    the    ani- 
mals are  left  to  themselves,  they  grow  in  heaps.     The 
spats  fasten   to   the    older   oysters,   and    in    separating 
them  there  is  much  waste. 

The  artificial  beds  are  those  in  which  spats  are  col- 
lected, and  in  which  young  oysters  called  "seeds"  are 
transplanted  and  grow  for  market.  During  the  spawn- 
ing season,  near  where  the  eggs  or  spawn  of  old  oys- 
ters are  wont  to  drift,  a  bed  is  prepared  for  collecting 
the  spats.  Oyster  shells  are  usually  thrown  on  'the 
bottom  for  the  spats  to  fasten  to,  though  the  little 


44  LIVING  CREATURES. 

swimmers  will  stick  to  a  stone  or  to  a  piece  of  wood 
or  crockery.  Forty  of  them  will  cleave  to  one  oyster 
shell.  When  they  are  as  large  as  a  quarter  of  a  dollar 
they  are  termed  "seeds"  or  "blisters." 

They  may  now  be  raked  up  and  carried  to  empty 
beds  where  they  are  scattered  at  the  rate  of  a  bushel 
to  about  forty  square  feet.  Here  they  grow  for  four 
or  five  years,  when  they  are  ready  for  market. 


9.    OYSTER-CATCHING. 

OYSTERS  are  caught  by  a  bird  called  the  oyster 
catcher,  by  star-fish,  soft  crabs,  drill-fish,  and  conchs. 
All  these  plunder  for  their  own  benefit.  Some  of 
them,  as  the  star-fish,  are  very  troublesome  to  the 
growing  beds,  and  the  oystermen  are  accustomed,  at 
certain  times  of  the  year,  to  rake  over  the  bed  and 
capture  a  multitude  of  these  enemies. 

Leaving  all  the  remaining  enemies  mentioned  to  be 
looked  up  in  the  Cyclopaedia,  let  us  attend  to  one  of 
them,  and  see  how  a  little  sound  knowledge  is  useful 
in  any  kind  of  business.  The  star-fish,  which  belongs 
to  a  lower  branch  of  animals  than  the  oyster,  has  its 
mouth  in  the  center  from  which  the  five  arms  radiate. 
The  arms  are  made  of  limestone  sections  joined  by  a 
tough  membrane,  so  that  they  can  bend  and  grasp  the 
prey.  They  are  also  covered  with  sharp  spines,  and 
on  this  account  are  not  themselves  a  pleasant  prey 
for  other  animals. 

The   star-fish  moves  by  filling  ever   so    many  little 


OYSTER-CATCHING. 


45 


tubes  attached  to  its  ray^  or  arms.  By  placing  the 
tubes  upon  any  surface  and  drawing  the  water  from 
them,  they  are  made  to  stick  fast,  by  suction.  The 
animal  sometimes  grows  to  a  diameter  of  more  than 
two  feet.  He  grasps  the  oyster  in  his  five  arms,  and 
by  the  suckers  around  his  mouth  breaks  the  thin  edge 


Oyster.  Fleet. 


of  the  shell.  Then  he  runs  into  the  shell  the  end  of 
his  stomach,  and  sucks  away  all  that  part  of  the  oyster 
which  he  most  relishes.  The  star-fish  is  to  be  com- 
mended for  his  good  taste. 

Some  years  ago,  oystermen  were  accustomed  to  catch 
these  depredators  with  tongs  and  dredges,  and  after 
filling  their  boats,  to  break  the  star-fish  in  pieces  and 
throw  the  pieces  overboard  into  the  water.  They  did 
not  then  know  what  they  have  since  learned, — that 
many  of  the  pieces  of  a  star-fish  will  grow  into  com- 


46 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


plete  animals.      So  that  by  dividing  these  mischievous 
creatures  they  were  only  multiplying  them. 

The  business  of  taking  oysters  for  human  use  com- 
mences in  September,  when  the  spawning  is  over  and 
the  animals  are  plump.  A  sloop  is  brought  to  anchor 
over  the  bed,  and  small  boats  containing  men  are  sent 
out  in  various  directions.  First,  the  oysters  are  taken 
with  double  rakes  or  tongs,  and  are  thrown  into  the 

little  boats  which  convey 
them  to  the  sloop.  When 
the  rakes  and  tongs  have" 
done  all  they  can,  a  dredge 
is  thrown  out  from  the  sloop 
and  dragged  over  the  bot- 
tom until  the  bed  is  thor- 
oughly cleaned. 

The  sloop,  having  been 
loaded  with  from  two  hun- 
dred to  eight  hundred  bush- 
els of  oysters,  is  run  into  the 
mouth  of  some  river  or^  creek,  where  the  water  is 
partly  fresh,  to  "give  the  oysters  a  drink,"  as  the  fish- 
ermen say.  Here  the  load  is  thrown  overboard  in 
shallow  water,  when  the  bivalves  open,  the  water  runs 
in,  and  they  get  their  "drink."  In  this  way,  it  is 
claimed,  they  cleanse  themselves  from  the  rubbish  of 
the  sea,  get  rid  of  their  salt,  become  white,  and  ap- 
pear suddenly  to  fatten.  The  fattening,  however,  is 
only  a  temporary  puffing  up  with  water. 

When  finally  raised  from  their  temporary  resting 
place,  they  are  disposed  of  in  different  ways.  Many 
families  near  at  hand  purchase  each  from  ten  to  twenty 


Star -fish. 


OYSTER-CATCHING.  47 

bushels,  which  are  packed  away  with  sea-weed  in  the 
cellar  for  winter  use.  Those  that  remain  till  spring 
are  quite  likely  to  be  alive  and  well.  Large  quantities 
of  oysters  in  the  shell  are  shipped  to  Europe. 

For  use  in  the  interior  of  the  country,  the  shells  are 
packed  in  barrels,  the  large  valve  down  so  as  to  retain 
all  the  liquor  of  the  animal.  A  large  business  is  car- 
ried on  in  "raw  oysters,"  or  those  which  are  taken 
from  the  shells  and  canned.  The  opening  of  oysters 
is  something  of  a  trade  in  itself.  An  expert  opener 
will  take  out  thirty  thousand  oysters  in  a  day.  The 
raw  oysters  are  separated  according  to  size  into  ' '  me- 
diums,"  "standards, "  and  "selects,"  and  are  packed 
in  tin  quart  cans,  or  in  gallon  kegs. 

The  New  York  oysters  bear  many  fancy  names. 
"Saddle-rocks"  came  originally  from  a  reef  of  that 
name  on  the  north  shore  of  Long  Island.  Twenty- 
five  of  them  have  been  known  to  fill  a  bushel.  The 
bed,  however,  was  exhausted  more  than  forty  years 
ago,  and  now  any  good,  large  oyster  may  be  called  a 
"saddle-rock."  "Blue  Points,"  which  are  small  but 
of  fine  flavor,  and  sought  for  eating  on  the  half-shell, 
are  from  shallow  bays  along  the  southern  shore  of 
Long  Island.  "  Shrewsburys  "  grow  at  the  mouth  of 
a  river  of  that  name  near  Sandy  Hook. 

The  oysters  of  the  Pacific  coast  are  exceedingly 
small,  and  are  served  in  restaurants  by  the  hundred 
or  half  hundred.  A  Californian  visiting  New  York 
stepped  into  an  eating-house  and  ordered  a  hundred 
fried  oysters.  He  was  surprised  when  he  saw  spread 
before  him  a  full  hundred  Shrewsburys,  a  dozen  of 
which  make  a  hearty  meal. 


48  LIVING    CREATURES. 


10.    PEARLS    AND    PEARL-MAKERS. 

IN  the  law  book  of  the  ancient  Hebrews,  which  is 
called  the  Talmud,  is  found  a  story  which  illustrates 
the  value  of  the  pearl. 

When  Abraham  came  near  to  Egypt,  he  locked 
Sarah  his  wife  in  a  chest,  that  none  might  behold  her 
beauty.  But  when  he  came  to  the  place  of  paying  cus- 
toms, the  officer  said  to  him,  "Pay  custom."  And  he 
said,  "I  will  pay  the 'custom. "  They  said  to  him,  "Thou 
carriest  clothes ;  "  and  he  said,  "I  will  pay  for  clothes." 
Then  they  said,  "Thou  carriest  gold;  "  and  he  replied, 
"  I  will  pay  for  gold." 

On  this  they  cried,  "Surely  thou  bearest  fine  silk;  " 
and  he  answered,  "I  will  pay  custom  for  the  finest 
silk."  Then  they  said,  "Surely  it  must  be  pearls  that 
thou  takest  with  thee ; "  and  he  only  answered,  "  I  will 
pay  for  pearls."  As  they  knew  nothing  more  valuable 
than  pearls,  they  demanded  that  the  box  should  be 
opened,  in  order  that  they  might  determine  what  con- 
cealed treasure  it  was  for  which  the  owner  was  willing 
to  pay  custom  sufficient  for  fine  pearls. 

And  the  box  was  opened,  when  they  found  that 
nothing  in  the  opinion  of  Abraham  was  too  costly  or 
pure  to  be  compared  with  his  wife  Sarah. 

It  is  a  singular  Tact  that  pearls,  regarded  by  some  as 
more  beautiful  than  diamonds,  are  made  by  certain  kinds 
of  clams  and  oysters.  These  are  called  pearl  mussels  and 
pearl  oysters.  The  lining  of  these  shells,  called  nacre 
(naker)  or  mother-of-pearl,  is  itself  beautiful.  The 
mantle  of  the  mollusk  makes  the  shell.  The  fringe  of 


PEARLS  AND  PEARL-MAKERS. 


49 


the  mantle  produces  the  outside,  and  from  the  body  of 
the  mantle  grows  the  rainbow  lining.  This  wonderful 
mantle,  also,  makes  the  pearl. 

For  a  long  time  it  was  supposed  that  the  pearl  mus- 
sel and  pearl  oyster  mold  their  gems  about  grains  of 
sand,  or  produce  them  when  diseased.  It  is  now  the 
opinion  that  some  little  animal  gets  into  the  mussel 


Pearl  Oysters. 

or  oyster  and  irritates  the  mantle.  There  is  then  let 
out  of  the  mantle  a  small  sphere  or  drop  of  nacre 
which  increases  layer  by  layer,  until  it  reaches  the  size, 
it  may  be,  of  a  large  bean.  Both  the  pearl  oyster  of 
the  ocean  and  certain  species  of  the  fresh-water  mussel 
occasionally  make  pearls. 

One  reason  for  the  invasion  of  Britain  by  the  Ro- 
mans  was  said  to  be  the  attraction  of  its  pearl  fisher- 
ies. In  Irish  and  Scotch  rivers  large  numbers  of  mus- 
sels have  been  found  containing  pearls.  In  the  year 

1865  these  rivers  yielded  sixty  thousand  dollars'  worth. 
L.  c.-4. 


5O  LIVING  CREATURES. 

The  Queen  paid  two  hundred  dollars  for  a  Scotch 
pearl.  It  is  also  said  that  one  of  the  pearls  that  adorn 
the  royal  crown  of  Great  Britain  was  found  by  the 
waiting  lady  of  Catharine,  the  wife  of  Henry  VIII. 
She  was  fishing,  and  either  hooked  up  or  picked  up 
the  mussel  which  bore  the  gem. 

In  1857,  great  excitement  was  created  by  the  discov- 
ery of  a  very  large  pearl  in  Notch  Brook  near  Pater- 
son,  New  Jersey.  A  shoemaker  named  Howell  was 
the  fortunate  finder,  but  he  had  ruined  the  jewel  by 
cooking  the  mussel  that  contained  it.  A  carpenter  of 
the  name  of  Quackenbush,  heard  of  this  good  fortune 
and  took  to  pearl-hunting.  After  wading  about  for 
several  days,  he  picked  up  a  mussel  containing  a  pearl 
five  eighths  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  for  which  a  jeweler 
in  New  York  paid  a  thousand  dollars.  It  was  after- 
ward sold  in  Paris  for  five  thousand  dollars. 

PART  2. 

ROSY  and  green  pearls,  and  those  of  a  fine  luster, 
are  preferred.  Pearls  are  classed  as  clear,  half-clear, 
and  sand-pearls.  In  China,  mussels  are  kept  in  acqua- 
riums  and  are  made  to  manufacture  pearl  ornaments. 
The  natives  make  of  tin  foil  little,  flat,  stamped  images 
for  idols.  These  they  insert  within  the  valves  of  a  liv- 
ing mussel,  where  they  remain  for  two  or  three  months. 
At  the  end  of  this  period  the  images,  still  retaining 
their  original  features,  are  covered  with  a  coating  of 
pearl,  and  are  then  worn  as  pendants. 

The  most  valuable  of  the  gems  we  are  describing  are 
taken  from  the  pearl  oyster,  which  lives  in  certain  fa- 


PEARLS  AND   PEARL-MAKERS.  51 

vored  places  in  the  sea.  The  finest  pearls  are  found 
near  the  islands  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  Here  the  ancient 
Macedonians  gathered  many  jewels.  The  largest  fish- 
eries are  carried  on  at  the  island  of  Ceylon.  The  fish- 
ing grounds  are  in  control  of  the  British  government. 
The  best  pearls  are  yielded  by  oysters  four  years  old. 
It  is  said  that  an  oyster  containing  a  gem  will  die  at 
seven,  and  the  pearl,  of  course,  will  be  lost. 

The  fishing  season  occurs  early  in  the  spring,  and  lasts 
about  six  weeks.  During  this  time  the  shore  of  the  is- 
land is  whitened  with  the  tents  of  native  pearl-fishers. 
A  group  of  boats,  each  containing  ten  men,  reaches  the 
oyster  banks  at  sunrise.  At  the  firing  of  a  signal  gun, 
the  diving  commences.  The  divers  work  in  pairs.  One 
remains  in  the  boat  holding  a  rope.  This  rope  is  fast- 
ened to  the  other,  who  dives ;  and  to  him,  also,  a  sink- 
stone,  weighing  forty  pounds,  is  attached. 

The  greatest  danger  to  which  the  diver  is  exposed,  is 
the  shark,  which  has  a  passion  for  divers'  flesh.  To 
fight  this  monster,  the  man  takes  down  with  him  spikes 
made  of  iron-wood.  Before  he  is  let  down,  his  clothes 
are  stripped  from  him  by  a  sort  of  priest  or  shark- 
charmer,  who  performs  over  him  some  strange  service. 
Should  the  shark,  however,  come  to  attack  him,  the 
diver  does  not  depend  upon  the  incantations  of  the 
charmer,  but  fights  with  his  spikes  'and  stirs  up  the  mud 
to  blind  the  shark. 

When  the  gun  fires  again  at  noon,  the  fleet  returns, 
and  the  oysters  are  divided  into  four  heaps,  of  which 
one  goes  to  the  fishermen  for  their  wages,  and  the  re- 
maining three  are  sold  at  auction.  The  shells  are 
opened  and  the  pearls  are  sorted  by  sifting  them  through 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


Drilling  Pearls. 


Pearl  Oyster  Fishing1. 

baskets  having  different  sized 
holes.  Some  of  them  are  drilled 
with  holes  for  beads.  The  most 
common  size  of  fine  oriental 
pearls  is  from  one  and  a  half  to 
three  times  that  of  a  pea. 

The  pearl  which  is  nearest 
perfect  is  round  or  pear-shaped. 
It  is  free  from  speck  or  flaw,  of  delicate  texture  and 
clear,  almost  transparent  white  color,  with  a  soft  gloss 
and  irridescence.  The  Shah  or  King  of  Persia,  in  1633, 
paid  for  a  single  pearl  sixty-five  thousand  dollars.  This 
jewel  had  belonged  to  a  Sultan  who  purchased  it  with 
three  hundred  pure-blood  Arab  horses. 

The  most  beautiful  pearl  now  known  is  kept  in  a 
museum  at  Moscow.  It  was  taken  more  than  fifty 
years  ago  and  weighs  ninety  grains.  The  largest  pearl 
in  existence  belongs  to  Mr.  Beresford  Hope,  of  Lon- 
don. This  magnificent  gem  weighs  three  ounces,  is 
four  and  a  half  inches  in  circumference,  and  is  valued 
at  sixty  thousand  dollars. 


THE   SNAIL.  53 


II.    THE    SNAIL. 

THE  school-boy  of  three  centuries  ago  must  have 
been  a  very  slow  creeper,  or  else  his  school  was  en- 
tirely unattractive.  Shakespeare,  in  describing  the 
seven  ages,  says: 

"Then  the  whining  school-boy,  with  his  satchel 
And  shining  morning  face,  creeping  like  snail 
Unwillingly  to  school." 

Probably  there  are  no  such  boys  in  these  days.  But 
we  have  snails,  and  by  studying  them  we  may  know 
at  least  one  characteristic  of  the  boy  of  three  hundred 
years  ago. 

The  snail  deserves  more  notice  than  it  has  been 
accustomed  to  receive.  It  is  far  more  intelligent  than 
any  animal  before  spoken  of.  It  has  been  tamed,  and 
trained  to  come  out  of  its  shell,  when  called.  In  Europe 
it  is  regarded  as  a  nice  article  of  food.  In  this  country 
it  has  never  been  used  very  much  for  the  table,  al- 
though, in  this  respect,  it  is  rapidly  gaining  friends. 

The  snail  is  like  the  clam  and  the  oyster,  in  two  gen- 
eral features.  It  has  a  soft  body  without  a  bone,  and 
it  has  a  hard  shell  to  cover  the  body.  It  is  a  mollusk 
because  it  is  soft;  but  it  is  not  a  bivalve,  because  its 
shell  does  not  divide  into  two  valves.  It  has  but  one 
shell,  and  is,  therefore,  a  univalve.  This  shell,  or  one 
nearly  like  it,  must  be  looked  at  a  moment,  and  its 
different  parts  learned. 

The  figure  is  that  of  an  Illinois  pond  snail.  It  is 
turned,  coiled,  or  whirled  into  a  spire  like  the  point 
of  a  gimlet.  Its  general  form  is  that  of  a  cone.  The 


54 


LIVING  CREATURES. 


cone  is  composed  of  whirls  or  whorls.  The  largest  of 
these  is  the  body  whorl  (bw).  Those  above  the  body 
are  simply  whorls  which  together  form  the  spire  (sp). 
The  opening  at  the  base  (;;/)  is  the  mouth,  the  edges 

of  which  roll  back  on  either 
side.  The  name  for  each  of 
these  edges  of -the  mouth  is  lip. 
The  lip  on  the  right  side  of 
the  mouth  —  in  some  of  the 
snail's  large  relations  a  very 
broad  lip — is  known  by  its  sim- 
ple name.  That  on  the  left 
side  is  designated  as  the  colu- 
mella lip.  Carefully  break  in, 
on  one  side,  the  body  whorl  of 
a  common  snail,  and  you  will 
see  a  little  column  rising  from 
the  inside  of  this  lip  to  the 
apex  —  like  the  column  '  of  a 
spiral  staircase.  This  little  col- 
umn is  the  columella,  and  its 
outward  fold  is  the  columella 
-  lip.  The  lips  of  the  snail's 
shell  are  short  and  roll  out 
scarcely  at  all.  The  shell  itself 
shows  that  it  has  grown  by  constant  additions,  or  sec- 
tions, which  have  left  their  lines  on  the  outside. 

Nothing  could  be  more  perfectly  contrived  for  its 
uses  than  this  shell.  When  the  animal  retires  within 
it,  the  body  must  slip  very  easily  up  the  spiral  way 
toward  the  apex.  And  when  it  is  out  and  slowly 
moving,  what  could  be  more  compact  and  easily  bal- 


Fiff.  8.    Pond  Snail  Shell. 


49  THE    SNAIL.  55 

anced  on  the  snail's  back  than  this  cone  with  nearly 
all  its  weight  at  the  base!  If  the  shell  breaks,  the 
animal  throws  a  sticky  fluid  across  the  fracture,  and 
soon  a  horny  patch  has  grown  as  good  as  new. 

The  snail  is  more  complete  in  its  formation  than  the 
oyster.  The  oyster  has  no  foot.  The  snail  has  a 
foot  running  along  on  the  under  side  of  its  body.  The 
oyster  has  90  head.  The  snail  has  a  head.  The  or- 
gans of  the  oyster  are  scattered  about — the  mouth  near 
the  hinge,  the  feelers, 
ears,  and  eyes  on  the  J  *!„ 

edge  of  the  mantle. 

The  snail's  senses  are 
gathered  in  its  head. 
The  mouth,  eyes,  feel- 
ers, and  smelling  or- 
gans are  there.  The 
snail  has  a  real  mouth 
with  hard  jaws ;  and  a 
long  tongue  like  a  rib-  Pond  SnalL 

bon,  covered  with  teeth  which  work  against  the  upper 
jaw  and  crunch  the  weeds  it  feeds  upon.  The  oyster 
is  water-breathing,  the  snail  is  air-breathing.  It  has  a 
little  sac  which  answers  for  lungs ;  and  the  pond  snail, 
working  on  the  water  bottom,  comes  to  the  top  occa- 
sionally, sets  free  the  bubble  of  air  it  has  used,  takes 
a  fresh  bubble,  and  returns  to  its  work  in  the  water. 

The  snail  has  been  slandered  because  it  is  slow.  It 
is  fast  enough ;  faster  than  the  oyster,  which  never 
moves  from  its  seat.  And  then  it  goes  as  swiftly  as 
it  can,  so  that  no  one  can  charge  it  with  being  lazy. 
When,  too,  it  is  considered  that  this  creeper  has  but 


56  LIVING  CREATURES.  p 

one  foot,  and   that,  when   it  moves,  it   must  carry  its 
house  on  its  back,  it  must  be  pronounced  a  hero. 

Snails  have  a  period  of  remaining  torpid,  when  they 
draw  themselves  within  their  shells,  covering  the  mouth 
with  a  sticky  liquid  which  hardens  by  exposure.  Thus 

they  remain,  in  temper- 
ate climates  during  the 
winter,  aijd  in  torrid 
climates  during  the 

very    hottest   weather, 

^'l  ,•/'     Some    of    the     snail's 
larger    relations    close 
Land  snaii,-  the  mouth  of  the  shell 

with   a  cover  attached 
to  the  foot.     The  cover  fits  close  into  the  mouth. 

The  shell  of  the  pond  snail,  with  its  spire  raised  con- 
siderably above  the  body  whorl,  is  easily  distinguished 
from  that  of  the  land  snail,  whose  spire  is  very  short, 
and  whose  body  whorl  is  very  large.  The  mollusks 
themselves  differ  in  some  respects.  The  pond  snail 
has  two  feelers  or  horns,  the  land  snail  has  four, — two 
above  and  two  below.  The  eyes  of  the  pond  snail  are 
at  the  base  of  its  feelers,  while  the  eyes  of  the  other 
are  at  the  end  of  its  upper  feelers  or  horns. 

Snails  can  live  long  without  food.  In  1846,  a  famous 
specimen  was  brought  from  Egypt  and  placed  in  the 
British  Museum.  It  was  supposed  to  be  dead,  but 
revived  after  it  had  lain  four  years  without  eating. 
There  were  reasons  to  believe  that  it  was  alive ;  warm 
water  was  applied  and  it  appeared.  Another  one  in 
this  country,  from  Lower  California,  lived  in  confine- 
ment and  fasted  for  six  years. 


THE   SNAIL  S  GAY  RELATIONS. 


12.    THE    SNAILS    GAY    RELATIONS. 

I  HAVE  seen 

A  curious  child  who  dwelt  upon  a  tract 
Of  inland  ground,  applying  to  his  ear 
The  convolutions  of  a  smooth-lipped  shell ; 
To  which,  in  silence  hushed,  his  very  soul 
Listened  intensely ;  for  from  within  were  heard 
Murmurings,  whereby  the  monitor  expressed 
Mysterious  union  with  its  native  sea. 

—  Wordsworth. 

VERY  likely  the  child  whom  Wordsworth  saw  had  in 
his  hand  one  of  those  shells  which  are  called  porcelain 
shells,  or  cowries.  I  remember  well  the  first  time  I 
placed  one  to  my  ear.  I  really  thought,  as  the  shell 
had  come  from  the  ocean,  it  had  brought  with  it  a  little 
of  the  ocean  roar  confined  in  its  convolutions  or  whorls. 
It  destroys  this  little  bubble  of  romance,  to  find  that 
the  hand  bent  into  a  cup  and  held  to  the  ear  produces 
nearly  the  same  effect. 

The  cowry  animal  is  essentially  like  the  snail.  The 
cowry  shell  is  quite  different  from  the  snail  shell  in 
shape  and  appearance.  It  is  almost  precisely  like  a 
coffee  berry.  It  is  without  the  spire  of  the  cone,  and 
has  only  the  body  whorl,  with  an  opening  running  its 
whole  length,  thus  forming  its  mouth.  Like  most  of  the 
ornamental  shell  animals,  the  cowry  has  more  of  a  foot 
than  its  sober  little  cousin  the  snail  has ;  and  attached 
to  this  foot  is  a  trap-door  which  closes  the  mouth  of 
the  shell,  when  the  mollusk  retires  into  it. 

Exquisitely  beautiful  are  these  cowries,  covered  with 
dark  spots,  and  equal  in  finish  to  the  finest  porcelain. 


58  LIVING  CREATURES. 

The  wonder  is  that  the  shell  is  produced  from  the 
mantle  of  the  mollusk;  and  the  spots,  or  eyes,  are 
painted  by  a  coloring  matter  secreted  by  the  mantle 
precisely  where  the  spots  occur  on  the  shell.  Cowries 
are  of  different  sizes  and  shades.  The  mollusk  is  quite 
as  beautiful  as  its  shell. 

You  can  not  wonder  that  uncivilized  peoples  have  a 
passion  for  ornamental  shells.  A  small  cowry  found  in 
the  Pacific  Ocean  is  used  by  African  tribes  for  money. 
Great  numbers  of  money  cowries  are  shipped  by  En- 
gland to  Africa,  where  they  are  sold  to  the  natives  in 
exchange  for  their  products.  These  shells  are  the 
common  money  of  the  natives  of  Bengal,  Siam,  and 
Hindostan. 

The  first  settlers  of  this  country  found  the  Indians 
using  shells  for  money.  These  natives  cut  the  white 
and  the  black  shells  in  pieces,  and  strung  them  on  a 
cord  or  belt,  which  was  then  called  wampum.  The 
squaws  tied  shells  to  the  shoes  they  wore  when  danc- 
ing, to  produce  a  rattling,  tinkling  sound.  The  only 
piano  the  Indians  had  consisted  of  strings  of  shells 
hung  loosely  around  their  lodges,  and  played  upon  by 
the  fingers  of  the  wind.  The  ancient  Athenians  made 
use  of  shells  for  ballots,  upon  which  they  inscribed 
their  votes.  In  the  Friendly  Islands  the  orange  cowry 
is  worn  only  by  persons  of  the  highest  rank. 

PART  2. 

WHO  has  not  seen  the  large,  reddish  conch  shell? 
Formerly  the  farmers  on  the  coast  used  this  southern 
shell  for  a  horn  to  call  their  workmen  to  dinner.  The 


THE  SNAIL'S   GAY    RELATIONS. 


59 


Smooth-lipped  Shell. 


trumpet  shell  is  another  noisy  one,  with  a  long  spire. 
Found  in  West  India  and  Panama  waters,  the  sailors 
call  it  an  augur  shell.  This  shell  is  supposed  to  have 


60  LIVING  CREATURES. 

first  suggested  to  uncivilized  man  the  idea  of  the  instru- 
ment called  the  trumpet.  The  spiny  murex  is  the 
military  horn  of  certain  African  tribes. 

In  ancient  Palestine  bee-keepers  employed  the  conch 
to  make  a  whistling  or  hissing  noise  to  entice  their 
bees.  Says  Isaiah:  "And  it  shall  come  to  pass  that 
the  Lord  shall  hiss  for  the  fly  that  is  in  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  rivers  of  Egypt,  and  for  the  bee  that  is  in 


Cassis.  Group  of  Voluta. 

Money  Cowries.  Shells.  Conch  Shells. 

the  land  of  Assyria."  With  the  trumpet  shell  the 
Italian  herdsman  calls  his  cattle,  and  the  Welsh  farmer 
wakes  the  silence  of  his  mountain  wilds. 

Among  the  collections  is  seen  a  rough,  though  very 
attractive  shell,  covered  with  spines  or  horns.  This  is 
the  murex.  The  mollusk  to  which  it  belongs  is  fero- 
cious, and  attacks  other  mollusks.  The  shell  is  that 
which  was  used  by  the  ancient  Syrians  and  Greeks  in 
the  preparation  of  the  Tyrian  purple.  The  story  is 
that  the  purple  coloring  matter  contained  in  the  shell 


THE  SNAIL'S  GAY  RELATIONS.  61 

was  first  brought  to  notice  by  a  dog,  who  broke  a  shell 
with  his  teeth,  leaving  the  stain  on  his  lips.  With 
this  purple  the  Babylonians  dyed  the  robes  they 
dressed  their  idols  with ;  and  with  it  Moses  tinted  the 
furniture  of  the  tabernacle.  Wool  dyed  with  Tyrian 
purple  sold,  during  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Au- 
gustus, for  one  hundred  and  eighty  dollars  a  pound. 

From  the  cassis  shell  some  of  the  cheaper  cameos 
employed  in  jewelry  are  cut.  The  delicate  fineness  and 
blush  of  the  cameo  stone  make  it  valuable,  but  the  cost 
is  mainly  in  the  cutting. 

On  account  of  their  scarcity,  and  of  the  beautiful 
coverings  worn  by  the  snail's  kin,  they  have  sometimes 
commanded  large  prices.  As  late  as  1865,  rare  cowries 
sold  for  two  hundred  dollars  each.  Cones,  valued  for 
fine  polish  and  rich  markings,  brought  from  sixty  to 
two  hundred  dollars.  In  1876,  the  gay  voluta,  spotted 
with  orange  and  white,  sold  for  fifty  dollars;  before 
that  date  it  had  cost  two  hundred  dollars. 

Of  what  possible  use  to  these  tender  inhabitants  are 
the  rich  and  gay  colorings  and  luster  of  the  whorls,  or 
the  delicate  tints  of  the  lips?  These  gorgeous  clothes 
are,  in  their  natural  state,  inclosed  in  a  rough  outside 
crust,  which  is  no  more  handsome  than  the  shuck  of  a 
cocoa-nut.  Perhaps  these  beauties  of  shell  grow  to 
please  human  eyes.  Perhaps  they  are  designed  to 
teach  that  what  is  good  and  beautiful  in  character  lies 
beneath  the  surface.  As  Wordsworth  again  says : 

True  beauty  dwells  in  deep  retreats, 

Whose  veil  is  unremoved 
Till  heart  with  heart  in  concord  beats, 

And  the  lover  is  beloved. 


62  LIVING    CREATURES. 


13.    LIVING    PINCHERS. 

IN  most  parts  of  the  country,  boys  need  no  intro- 
duction to  crawfish ;  and  in  the  large  city,  or  near  the 
sea-coast,  any  one  may  at  times  see  lobsters  at  the 
fish-market.  Crawfish  and  lobsters  are  almost  pre- 
cisely alike.  Indeed,  the  crawfish  is  sometimes  called 
the  fresh-water  lobster.  It  is  about  five  inches  long, 
and  swims  near  the  bottom  of  rivers  and  ponds.  The 
lobster  is  about  ten  inches  long,  and  moves  about  in 
the  shallow  waters  of  the  sea-coast. 

To  shake  hands  with  either  of  these  queer-looking 
creatures  is  not  the  most  pleasant  way  of  forming  their 
acquaintance.  Many  a  stranger  has  thought  their 
grasp  quite  too  affectionate.  In  fact,  their  grip  is  a 
pinch,  and  their  hands,  such  as  they  have,  are  pinch- 
ers, and  are  armed  with  ugly  teeth.  Boys  who  have 
once  been  pinched  have  learned  to  pick  them  up  by 
the  back,  so  as  to  handle  them  without  injury.  It 
would  be  well  to  hold  one  in  this  way  long  enough  to 
see  how  it  is  fitted  for  the  battle  of  life — to  get  its 
food,  and  to  fight  its  enemies. 

The  lobster  and  the  crawfish  have  no  true  bones  in 
their  bodies.  The  body  is  divided  into  three  main 
parts,  called  the  head,  the  thorax  or  breastplate,  and 
the  abdomen.  This  last  part  is  again  made  up  of  seven 
pieces  or  joints.  The  whole  body  is  covered  by  a  hard 
outside  crust.  The  animals  are,  therefore,  called  crus- 
taceans. The  crust  or  shell  is  of  a  black  or  dark  green 
color  when  the  animal  is  alive.  Those  lobsters  that 
lie  quietly  in  the  fish-market,  are  -dead,  and  have  been 


LIVING    PINCHERS.  63 

partly  cooked.      Cooking,  you  will  observe,  turns  the 
color  of  the  shell  red. 

This  creature  seems  to  have  legs  in  abundance.  It 
is  a  great  improvement  upon  the  snail  that  has  no  legs. 
Attached  to  the  thorax  are  eight  pairs  of  limbs,  the 
first  three  pairs  being  used  as  jaws,  and  called  foot-jaws; 
the  next  pair  are  the  great  claws ;  and  the  four  pairs 
behind  the  claws  are  the  walking  legs.  Six  pairs  of 


American  Lobster. 


smaller  limbs  are  fastened  to  six  of  the  joints  of  the 
abdomen,  and  are  used  as  paddles  for  swimming.  They 
are  called  swimmerets. 

The  last  joint  of  the  abdomen,  or  the  tail-fin,  works 
back  and  forth,  and  helps  the  animal  to  swim  back- 
wards, when  it  so  desires.  The  two  great  claws  are  not 
precisely  alike.  The  more  clumsy  one  has  coarse  teeth, 
and  is  used  to  anchor  the  animal  or  hold  it  firmly  to 
some  object,  while  the  other  has  fine  teeth  and  is  used 


64  LIVING    CREATURES. 

for  seizing  and  crushing  the  prey.  Protected  by  its 
hard  shell,  and  armed  with  these  huge  pinchers,  the 
lobster  ought  to  fight  pretty  well.  And  so  it  does. 
Indeed,  it  is  so  quarrelsome  and  ferocious  that  the  fish- 
erman is  obliged  to  fasten  the  claws  with  pieces  of 
wood,  even  while  the  animal  is  waiting  to  be  boiled. 

The  crustaceans  have  a  definite  head,  which  is  well 
provided  with  eyes,  ears,  mouth  and  other  organs. 
From  the  sides  of  the  head  reach  out  two  long  whip- 
like  things,  which  are  feelers,  with  which  the  animals 
lash  the  water  and  touch  the  objects  they  meet.  On 
the  top  of  the  head  is  a  pair  of  smaller  feelers,  at  the 
base  of  which  are  the  ears. 

We  hunted  about  the  mantle  of  the  oyster  for  eyes. 
See  what  eyes  the  crustaceans  have,  standing  out  on 
knobs  or  stocks.  Unfortunately  they  are  very  obscure 
in  the  picture.  Besides  being  so  prominent,  they  are 
not  common  single  eyes,  but  each  stock  has  many  sin- 
gle eyes  packed  together.  Well  fitted,  then,  the  lob- 
ster and  crawfish  seem  to  be  for  moving  on  the  muddy 
bottom,  for  catching  and  eating  the  dead  fish  and  other 
animal  matter  upon  which  they  live,  and  for  fighting 
away  their  enemies. 

Of  course  the  crustaceans  are  water-breathing  ani- 
mals, and  have  gills  in  which  the  blood  and  the  air  of 
the  water  meet.  These  gills  are  found  at  the  places 
where  the  legs  join  the  body.  The  young  are  hatched 
from  eggs.  To  make  room  for  their  growth,  the  shell 
or  crust  is  shed,  or  molted,  as  many  as  six  times  dur- 
ing the  first  year,  a  larger  crust  coming  with  each 
change. 

In  the  spring  the  crustaceans  lay  their  eggs,  which 


CRABS.  65 

adhere  to  their  swimmerets.  A  single  lobster  lays 
about  twenty  thousand  eggs.  After  the  young  are 
hatched,  they  cling  to  the  swimming  legs  of  their 
mothers  until  they  are  about  a  third  of  an  inch  long, 
when,  with  bright  blue  eyes  and  a  pair  of  small  feet 
for  swimming,  they  dodge  about  in  the  water  at  a 
lively  rate.  At  this  period  of  their  existence  they  are 
dainty  food  for  large  fishes.  At  three  months  of  age 
they  acquire  all  the  parts  of  the  grown  animal,  and 
then  settle  down  on  the  bottom  like  the  old  people, 
to  catch  and  to  be  caught. 


14.   CRABS. 

TAKE  away  the  rear  part  or  abdomen  of  the  lobster 
and  you  have  the  crab.  There  are  some  different  ar- 
rangements about  the  mouth,  and  the  crab  swims  in 
the  water  instead  of  gliding  near  the  bottom,  as  its 
near  relation,  the  lobster,  does.  The  soft-shell  crabs 
of  the  sea  are  considered  delicate  eating,  but  every  one 
does  not  know  how  to  account  for  the  name  they  bear. 

The  soft-shell  crab  has  a  hard  crust  for  a  covering, 
as  its  near  friends  have.  But  from  time  to  time  it 
sheds  its  shell.  When  the  old  shell  has  been  thrown 
off,  it  is  some  days  before  the  new  shell  becomes  hard. 
During  this  period  the  crab  is  very  tender,  ancl  is  de- 
licious food;  and  on  this  account  it  receives  its  name — 
soft-shell.  It  is,  however,  a  common  crab. 

The  whole  family  of  lobsters  and  crabs  is  composed 
L.  c.— ?. 


66 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


of  ludicrous  members,  but  the  drollest  of  all  is  the 
hermit  crab.  It  is  really  more  of  a  lobster  than  a 
crab,  for  it  has  quite  a  long  abdomen,  while  the  crab 
has  scarcely  any.  This  hermit  wears  a  good  shell  on 
the  main  part  of  his  body ;  but  unfortunately  the 
hinder  part  is  naked  and  tender,  and  is  exposed  to 
attack. 

Now  he  will  surely  die  if  he  can  not  inclose  his  del- 
icate part  in  the  shell  of  some  mollusk.     To  find  such 


Common  Edible  Crab. 

a  covering  it  is  necessary  for  him  to  be  a  thief  and 
a  robber.  Having  found  a  convenient  shell  of  sufficient 
size,  and  having  dragged  the  innocent  occupant  out, 
the  hermit  pokes  in  his  tail-part  and  hooks  it  fast  to 
the  inside  of  the  shell  by  two  small  feet,  which  grow 
out  from  the  end  of  .the  tail,  seemingly  for  this  very 
purpose. 

When   the   lobster  grows   too    big   for  his   shell    he 


LEEUWENHOEK. 


67 


sheds  it,  and  gets  a  new  one.  But  the  hermit  crab 
occupies  the  dead  shell  of  another ;  what  shall  he  do 
v/hen  he  outgrows  his  shelter^  As  he  is  often  kept 
in  an  aquarium  his  pranks 
have  been  carefully  watched. 
He  hunts'  about  until  he 
finds  some  mollusk  like  a 
snail,  inclosed  in  its  house. 
He  turns  the  shell  over  and 
over,  as  if  calculating  on  its 
size.  He  pokes  a  foot  with- 
in to  see  who  is  there.  If 
he  concludes  that  the  house  Hermit  Cmb- 

is  good  enough  and  large  enough   for   him,   he  jerks 
out  its  tenant  and  himself  jumps  in — all  in  a  moment. 


15.   LEEUWENHOEK. 

THE  old  town  of  Delfth  in  Holland  is  associated 
with  a  familiar  event  in  American  history.  It  was 
from  the  harbor  of  this  town — from  Delfth  Haven — 
that  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  in  1620,  embarked  on  the 
Speedwell  and  the  Mayflower  to  sail  to  America. 
Another  event  adds  a  new  interest  to  Delfth. 

It  was  here  that,  in  1632,  a  boy  was  born  who  be- 
came one  of  the  great  discoverers  that  used  the  mi- 
croscope. His  name  was  Anthony  van  Leeuwenhoek 
(pronounced  Luh'wenhook).  As  his  surname  does 
not  slip  easily  from  an  American  tongue,  he  may  be 


68  LIVING  CREATURES. 

called  simply  Anthony.  The  education  of  Anthony 
was  very  imperfect.  He  never  graduated  from  college, 
but  he  seems  to  have  made  the  most  of  his  limited 
opportunities. 

Only  a  few  years  before  the  Mayflower  landed  its 
shivering  passengers  on  Plymouth  Rock,  and  the  Half 
Moon  anchored  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson,  the  tel- 
escope and  the  microscope  were  invented.  The  prin- 
cipal part  of  both  these  instruments  is  the  glass  lens. 
To  prepare  lenses,  and  get  their  shape  exactly  right, 
was  at  that  time  a  great  labor.  The  lenses  must  be 
slowly  ground  and  polished.  This  art  was  sometimes 
learned  by  bright  boys,  of  whom  Anthony  was  one. 
And  he  became  a  lens-grinder. 

Those  who  use  the  microscope  at  the  present  day, 
find  in  it  a  most  delightful  and  fascinating  employ- 
ment. With  it  they  examine  things  other  people  have 
seen  and  told  about,  and  find,  in  going  over  these  dis- 
coveries, great  arnusement.  How  much  more  enjoy- 
ment, then,  must  those  have  had  who,  with  the  mi- 
croscope, for  the  first  time,  discovered  these  things. 

The  opening  of  the  great  world  of  little  things 
created  great  excitement.  Everybody  who  could  buy 
one,  purchased  a  microscope.  The  grinding  of  lenses 
was  a  lively  business.  To  this  work  Anthony  devoted 
both  his  energies  and  his  wits.  Soon  he  found  out 
how  to  make  much  better  lenses  than  any  other  could 
construct,  insomuch  that  he  was  regarded  as  one  of 
the  inventors  of  the  microscope. 

Anthony  did  more  than  work  at  his  lenses.  He 
himself  used  the  improved  lens,  in  searching  out  the 
new  and  wonderful  things  in  nature.  And  what  did 


LEEUWENHOEK.  69 

he  find  that  was  new?  "The  House  I  Live  In"  gives 
an  account  of  the  voyage  which  a  drop  of  blood  makes 
when  it  leaves  the  heart,  passes  through  J;he  arteries 
to  the  muscles  and  bones,  and  returns  to  the  heart 
through  the  veins. 

The  credit  of  discovering  this  trip  of  the  drop  of 
blood  is  due  to  an  English  physician,  William  Harvey, 
who  died  when  Anthony  was  twenty-five  years  old. 

But  there  was  one  part  of  the  journey  of  the  blood 
which  Dr.  Harvey  did  not  explain. 
When  the  red  traveler  reaches  its 
destination,  how  does  it  leave  the 
artery,  get  through  the  muscles, 
and  jump  into  the  veins  ? 

This  question  Anthony  answered 
by  the  use  of  his  microscope.  He 
found  the  minute  capillary  (or 
hair)  tubes  which  convey  the  blood 
from  the  arteries  to  every  part  of 
the  muscles  and  bones,  and  throw 
it  into  the  veins,  so  that  it  may 
go  back  to  the  heart  and  lungs. 
About  the  time  of  this  discovery, 

Improved  Microscope. 

Anthony    received     a    visit    from 
Peter  the  Great  of  Russia,  who  was  delighted  to  see, 
through  the  microscope,  the  circulation  of  the  blood  in 
the  tail  of  an  eel. 

He  discovered  that  the  human  hair  is  solid  and  not 
a  tube ;  that  cochineal,  which  produces  red  and  purple 
dyes,  is  an  insect  and  not  a  seed  as  people  supposed ; 
that  the  grubs,  or  maggots,  which  appear  upon  spoiled 
meat  are  hatched  from  eggs,  and  are  not  sponta- 


/O  LIVING    CREATURES. 

neously  born  from  decaying  substance.  He  proved 
that  every  living  thing  comes  from  a  living  parent  of 
the  same  kind.  He  found  the  compound  eyes  of  some 
insects  ;  the  beautiful  scales  on  the  wings  of  butterflies : 
the  spinners  and  poison  claws  of  the  spider. 

In  the  gutters  of  the  house  roof,  there  is  nearly 
always  collected  more  or  less  moss  or  dirt  mixed  with 
leaves.  Of  course,  during  the  absence  of  rain,  this 
litter  becomes  very  dry.  Now  if  a  pinch  of  this  dust 
be  moistened  in  water,  and  placed  under  a  microscope, 
pretty  soon  little  animals,  no  larger  than  the  head  of 
a  pin,  appear  swimming  and  dancing  about,  as  antic 
as  pollywogs.  They  are  called  rotifers  or  wheel-bear- 
ers, because  they  have,  at  the  place  where  the  mouth 
should  be  expected,  a  wheel  fringed  with  lively  hairs 
with  which  they  draw  in  their  invisible  prey.  Entirely 
dry,  like  grains  of  sand,  they  may  exist  for  a  long 
time,  and  wake  into  activity  when  wet. 

These  wheel-bearers  were  first  brought  to  light  by 
Anthony  van  Leeuwenhoek.  Many  other  things,  also, 
did  he  discover  with  his  microscope,  and  many  things 
about  such  things  as  had  already  been  discovered. 


1 6.  SPIDERS. 

ONE  is  struck  with  a  certain  resemblance  between 
crab  and  spider.  The  latter  has  eight  walking  legs,  of 
which  the  first  pair  from  the  head  are  used  for  feelers. 
They  are  jointed  like  the  legs  of  crab  and  lobster,  and 


SPIDERS.  /I 

it  is  said  that  the  leg  of  the  spider  will  grow  out  again, 
should  one  or  two  joints  be  lost.  The  spider  is  com- 
monly regarded  as  an  insect.  But  it  is  without  some 
very  important  characteristics  which  belong  to  insects, 
as  will  be  seen  in  the  chapter  on  the  fly. 

The  spider's  jaws  are  a  little  like  the  lobster's  pinch- 
ers. They  are  furnished  with  rough  teeth  for  crunch- 
ing flies  and  other  food,  and  are  armed  at  the  end, 
each  with  a  sharp  claw  which  opens  and 
shuts  upon  the  jaw,  like  the  blade  of  a 
jack-knife.  These  jaws  are  excellent 
tools  for  the  butcher's  work  of  the  spi- 
der, and  are  deadly  weapons  in  the  fight. 
Through  the  claw  runs  a  tube  carrying 
poisonous  liquid  which  flows  into  the 

.     n.  _,.  Spider's  Jaws. 

wound,  when   a   bite   is    inflicted.     The 

poison,  however,  affects  the  human  being  scarcely  more 

than  the  poison  of  the  mosquito. 

Eight  eyes  on  the  back  of  the  head  furnish  the  ani- 
mal with  abundant  power  of  sight.  As  to  ears,  search 
for  them  and  you  will  not  find  them.  The  creature 
hears — there  is  no  doubt  about  that.  She  loves  a  tink- 
ling sound,  enjoys  the  strains  of  music,  sometimes  let- 
ting herself  down  from  the  ceiling  to  hear  it.  Out  of 
her  snug  den  she  will  run  at  the  buzzing  of  a  fly,  or 
wasp  or  tuning  fork.  Perhaps  the  hairs  on  their  legs 
have  the  faculty  of  hearing;  for  when  listening  to 
sounds,  these  hairs  are  raised,  just  as  some  animals 
erect  their  ears. 

The  spider  breathes  by  tubes  running  through  differ- „ 
ent  parts  of  its  body,  and  by  small  air  sacs — from 
two  to  four — which  may  be  called  lungs.  The  method 


72  LIVING    CREATURES. 

of  catching  its  game  is  that  which  makes  this  animal 
so  interesting.  Some  kinds  of  spiders  seize  their  vic- 
tim by  jumping  upon  it ;  others  by  running  it  down, 
as  the  tarantula  of  Italy  does.  But  most  of  the  varie- 
ties make  snares  for  their  prey,  by  their  wonderful  and 
exquisite  webs.  Before  explaining  their  art  of  spin- 
ning and  weaving,  read  a  short  fairy  story  of  the  an- 
cient Greeks. 


Garden  Spider. 

Athena  (A  the'na)  who  is  sometimes  called  Minerva, 
was  the  daughter  of  Jupiter,  and  was  the  goddess  of 
agriculture.  The  ancients  thought  she  invented  the 
plow  and  the  rake ;  and  taught  how  to  yoke  oxen 
and  to  take  care  of  horses.  She  has  the  credit  of 
many  other  inventions.  It  was  she,  they  said,  who  in- 
vented every  kind  of  work  that  women  performed. 
She  taught  the  fingers  how  to  spin,  to  sew,  and  to 
weave ;  and  how  to  work  the  beautiful  embroidery  and 
tapestry  in  which  the  Grecian  women  excelled. 


SPIDERS.  73 

Arachne  (A  rack'ne)  was  a  maiden  who  lived  in 
Lydia.  Her  father  Idmon  was  a  famous  dyer  in  pur- 
ple, and  she  was  a  skilled  weaver.  She  grew  bold 
enough  to  challenge  Athena  to  a  contest  in  her  art; 
and  for  her  part  produced  an  exquisite  piece  of  tapes- 
try. Athena,  because  she  could  find  no  fault  in  her 
competitor's  work,  grew  proud  and  jealous,  and  tore 
the  cloth  in  pieces.  Whereupon  Arachne,  over- 
whelmed with  despair,  hanged  herself.  But  the  god- 
dess softened  a  little  and  loosened  the  rope,  saving  the 
life  of  Arachne.  The  rope  was  then  instantly  changed 
into  a  cobweb,  and  Arachne  was  transformed  into  a 
spider,  the  animal  which  above  all  others  Athena  hated. 

This  story,  or  fable,  is  the  method  the  ancients  em- 
ployed of  teaching  that  man  learned  the  art  of  weav- 
ing from  the  spider,  and  that  the  art  was  invented  in 
Lydia.  It  is  a  pleasant  way  of  telling  something  which 
is  probably  quite  true.  In  a  great  many  of  the  arts 
men  have  taken  their  first  lessons  from  animals. 

PART  2. 

PASSING  by  the  house  spider  and  the  cellar  spider, 
whose  webs  are  woven  in  a  great  variety  of  shapes, 
the  garden,  or  geometric,  spider  gives  the  most  interest- 
ing example  of  spinning  and  weaving.  You  may  have 
seen  her  trudging  along  the  ground,  lugging  a  white 
silken  sack  which  she  is  reluctant  to  part  with.  Per- 
haps you  were  not  aware  that  this  bundle  contained 
her  eggs.  Had  you  watched  closely  you  might  have 
seen  the  young,  after  the  eggs  were  hatched,  riding 
on  the  back  of  their  mother. 


74  LIVING    CREATURES. 

In  spinning,  the  hind  foot  holds  and  guides  the 
thread.  The  foot  of  Epeira,  as  the  garden  spider  is 
called,  should  be  examined  and  understood.  Each  foot 
has  three  claws,  the  middle  one  of  which  is  bent  over 
for  clinging  to  the  web.  The  other 
two  have  teeth  like  a  comb,  and  in- 
deed are  used,  in  part,  for  cleansing 
the  limbs  and  webs.  Over  against 
the  claws  are  stiff  hairs  which  are 
also  toothed,  and  which  shut  like  a 
thumb  against  the  claws. 

The  wonder  of  the  spider  is  the 
manufacture  of  her  silk  web.  On  the  back  of  Epeira 
are  six  points,  each  about  the  size  of  a  pin's  point. 
These  are  her  spinnerets.  Each  spinneret  contains  a 
multitude  of  fine  tubes — some  say  a  thousand — from 
each  of  which  issues  a  sticky  fluid  made  in  the  body 
of  the  spider.  This  fluid  hardens  as  soon  as  it  feels 
the  air ;  and  the  minute  threads  join  to  make  a  strong 
cable.  The  six  spinnerets  may  each  make  a  separate 
cable,  or  by  bending  toward  one  another  may  join  all 
into  one.  The  spider's  thread  is  not 
more  than  a  four-thousandth  part  of 
an  inch  thick. 

Epeira  chooses  a  place  for  her  gos- 
samer wheel  where  the  ends  may  be 
securely  fastened,  and  where  she  may  spinnerets 

make  for  herself   a  convenient  den. 
After  throwing  across  the  space  a  thread  or  two,  she 
carries  out  from  the  center  several  rays  or  spokes,  mak- 
ing each  tight.     She  fastens  a  web  to  an  object  by  sim- 
ply touching  the  spinneret  to  the  object.      Having  ar- 


SPIDERS.  75 

ranged  the  spokes,  she  begins  at  the  center  and  runs 
a  spiral  thread  round  and  round. 

These  spiral  threads  are  smooth  and  dry,  and  are  as 
far  apart  as  the  spider  can  conveniently  reach.  They 
are  intended  only  for  a  temporary  scaffolding  to  walk 
upon.  Now  Epeira  begins  at  the  outside  or  circum- 
ference of  the  wheel  and  works  toward  the  center, 
carrying  round  and  round  a  new  thread  which  is  wet 
and  sticky,  all  the  while  biting  away  the  scaffold  be- 
fore her.  Thus  she  leaves  the  sticky  thread  behind 
her,  while  she  has  the  smooth,  dry  one  to  walk  on. 

After  all  is  finished,  Madam  Epeira  builds  a  silken 
den  for  herself  to  hide  in,  in  some  place  near  by, 
where  she  may  be  secure  and  at  the  same  time  watch 
her  work.  A  single  telephone  thread  joins  the  woven 
net  to  her  den,  and  upon  this  line  she  holds  her  sen- 
sitive foot.  Should  a  fly  strike  any  part  of  the  net, 
she  instantly  feels  the  touch,  hastens  to  the  spot,  and 
makes  the  intruder  a  prisoner,  by  spinning  about  its 
legs  and  wings  a  strong  rope  of  silk.  Though  beauti- 
ful, it  is  a  certain  death-trap  for  the  fly ;  and  though 
so  elaborate  and  perfect,  it  may  be  constructed  in 
three  quarters  of  an  hour. 

All  the  wonderful  work  done  by  the  spider  is  per- 
formed by  the  female.  The  male  of  some  kinds  is 
exceedingly  small  in  comparison ;  so  much  so,  that  as 
a  certain  naturalist  calculates,  were  he  a  man  six  feet 
high  and  weighing  a  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  she, 
supposing  her  to  be  a  woman,  would  measure  seventy- 
five  feet  high  and  weigh  two  hundred  thousand  pounds. 
Her  treatment  of  her  poor,  insignificant  mate  is  set 
forth  in  the  following  little  poem. 


76  LIVING    CREATURES. 


1 7.    MISS    SPIDER  S    WEDDING    BREAKFAST. 

A  FAT  little  spider  married  would  be, 
So  he  made  him  a  rope  and  climbed  a  tree 
To  where  Miss  Spider  was  making  a  pie 
Of  a  bumble  bee  and  a  small  house  fly. 

And  she  wed  him  there  in  the  morning  light, 
When  the  dew  on  the  grass  was  round  and  bright, 
Then  spread  out  her  table  so  lacy  and  fine, 
And  off  from  her  husband  began  to  dine. 

She  ate  him  all,  from  his  head  to  his  heel, 
And  never  a  pang  of  remorse  did  feel, 
But,  as  curled  up  close  in  her  cosy  bed, 
"That  spider  was  tough,"  to  herself  she  said. 


1 8.    AMONG    THE    INSECTS. 

ON  the  copy  from  which  this  page  is  printed  a  fly 
lighted.  Did  he  think  I  was  writing  about  him?  And 
had  he  come  to  see  that  I  did  not  slander  him?  He 
stands  still,  and  does  not  mind  a  motion  of  the  hand, 
as  flies  usually  do.  He  has  found  something  to  eat — 
that  explains  it  all.  Thank  you,  Musca,  for  I  believe 
that  is  the  name  they  have  given  you.  I  want  to 
look  you  over  a  little. 

A  spot  of  mucilage  on  the  paper  seems  to  attract 
him.  Keep  still !  There  is  a  magnifying  glass  at  hand 


AMONG    THE    INSECTS. 


77 


Fly  Magnified. 

which  I  will  hold  over  him.  He  lets  down  his  bill, 
or  trunk.  Even  with  the  naked  eye,  I  have  often  seen 
flies  do  that ;  but  I  see  more  accurately  with  the  glass. 
The  mucilage  is  hard,  but  he  will  penetrate  it,  for  he 
is  dropping  moisture  upon  it  from  his  tongue. 

Soon  I  have  looked  him  nearly  all  over ;  have  seen 


78  LIVING    CREATURES. 

his  bill  unfold,  and  the  knob  on  the  end  of  it  divide 
and  spread  out  flat ;  have  seen  his  feelers  reaching 
forward  from  his  head,  his  two  round  eyes,  his  two 
wings,  and  six  legs. 

Now  Musca  is  through  with  the  mucilage,  and  be- 
gins a  droll  performance.  The  fore  legs  are  rubbed 
together,  in  the  most  lively  manner,  to  clean  away  the 
gum  and  dust  that  stick  to  them,  I  suppose.  He  bal- 
ances himself  on  the  middle  pair,  and  rubs  the  hind 
legs  in  the  same  way.  Again  he  comes  to  the  fore 
legs,  and  I  discover  something  that  reminds  me  of  the 
cat.  He  touches  his  legs  to  his  lips,  which  are  one 
with  his  tongue,  and  with  them  washes  his  face. 

I  am  through  with  you  now ;  you  can  go,  little 
Musca.  I  shall  not  injure  you.  There  come  to  my 
mind  the  words  of  kind-hearted  Uncle  Toby,  when  he 
opened  the  window  to  let  out  one  of  your  foreign  an- 
cestors :  "  Get  thee  gone,"  he  said  ;  "for  why  should 
I  harm  thee?  Is  not  the  world  big  enough  for  both 
thee  and  me?'* 

Having  gathered  all  the  facts  my  eyes  can  reach,  I 
will  now  turn  to  books  to  ascertain  whether  some  other 
one  has  seen  more  than  I  have,  and  whether  I  have 
seen  correctly.  Webster's  Unabridged  Dictionary, 
which  contains  much  information  besides  definitions, 
says  the  fly  is  a  "winged  insect."  The  winged  feat- 
ure is  very  clear,  for  on  Musca's  back  I  saw  two  gauzy 
wings  with  bronze  and  purple  tints.  Turn  now  to 
"insect."  This  is  a  name  given  to  certain  small  ani- 
mals whose  bodies  appear  cut  in,  or  almost  "di- 
vided " — so  the  great  book  says. 

This  knowledge  is  helpful.      The  fly  did  appear  '  'cut 


AMONG   THE    INSECTS.  79 

in" — not  in  two,  but  in  three — parts.  The  book  has 
named  the  parts.  They  are  the  head,  the  thorax,  and 
the  abdomen.  These,  jointed  together,  were  seen  in 
Musca;  and  I  further  observed  that  the  six  legs  and 
the  two  wings  were  attached  to  the  thorax,  or  middle 
division.  With  the  aid  of  the  glass  I  could  see  the 
short  feelers,  or  antennae,  on  Musca's  head.  Keener 
eyes  may  see  them  without  the  glass. 

Much  more  can  not  be  seen,  except  by  dissecting 
the  fly  and  examining  its  parts  under  a  microscope. 
The  fly  has  no  hard  jaws  or  teeth,  as  some  insects  have, 
and  can  not  bite.  When  the  tongue  is  unfolded  to 
touch  a  piece  of  sugar,  the  knob  on  the  end  of  it  spreads 
out  into  two  flat  leaves  covered  with  small  hair-tubes. 
The  sugar  is  first  moistened  and  dissolved ;  then 
scraped  and  sucked  up  by  the  hairy  lips.  In  like  man- 
ner book-covers  and  pictures  are  injured,  the  fly  scrap- 
ing them  with  the  leaves  of  its  tongue. 

The  eyes  of  the  fly  seem  to  be  two,  but  the  micro- 
scope discovers  that  they  are  composed  of  a  great 
many — several  thousand — minute  eyes,  each  with  a  lit- 
tle nerve  of  its  own.  Three  small  and  single  eyes  are 
on  the  back  of  the  head,  but  their  precise  use  is  not 
known. 

PART  2. 

WHEN  the  fly  walks,  three  legs  are  thrown  forward 
at  one  time — two  on  one  side  and  one  on  the  other. 
The  microscope  reports  that  the  leg  and  the  foot  are 
covered  with  stiff  hairs,  so  that  they  are  like  combs  or 
brushes.  This  is  the  reason,  then,  why  Musca  rubbed 
his  legs  together — that  one  brush  might  clean  the 


8o 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


other.  The  foot  is  quite  as  wonderful  as  the  eye,  for 
its  construction  shows  how  the  fly  can  walk  with  its 
back  downwards,  and  on  smooth  surfaces. 

On  the  last  joints  of  the  foot  are  a  pair  of  claws  under 
each  of  which  is  a  pad  or  soft  cushion.     For  a  long  time 
it  was  supposed  that  the  pads  were  hollow  like  cups, 
and  adhered  to  the  surface  by  pressing    out   the    air. 
This   has    been   found  to  be   a 
mistake.       The    latest     discov- 
eries,  as  given  by  Prof.   C.   V: 
Riley,  prove  that  the  pads  are 
beset  by  ever  so  many  knobbed 
hairs,  as  shown  in  the  drawing. 
From  each  hair  flows  a  fluid 
which    keep,s    its    end    or    disk 
moist,   and  enables  it  to  stick. 
The    smoother    the  surface  the 
more  closely  will  the  hairs  stick. 
On     rougher     surfaces,    like    a 
Fiys  Foot  Magnified.         whitewashed    or  papered    wall, 
the  delicate  claws  are  able  to  cling  to  the  microscopic 
unevenness,  without  aid  from  the  hairs. 

Where  are  the  fly's  ears?  The  sense  of  touch  is 
chiefly  in  the  antennae  which  project  like  horns  from 
the  forehead.  Some  other  insects,  as  the  cricket,  have 
very  long  antennae.  The  fine  hairs  on  the  legs,  also, 
have  the  power  of  feeling.  But  there  are  no  ears  to 
be  found. 

It  is  equally  difficult  to  find  the  fly's  nose.  But  it  is 
evident  that  it  can  smell.  Careful  and  continued  ob- 
servation has  proved  that  the  fly  and  most  other  insects 
feel,  hear,  and  smell  with  their  antennae.  A  sort  of 


AMONG    THE    INSECTS.  8 1 

ear,  it  should  be  said,  has  been  found  on  the  abdomen 
of  the  cockroach. 

Having  learned  how  easy  it  is  to  crush  a  fly  or  a 
mosquito,  it  is  well  to  inquire  about  the  bones  of  these 
animals.  A  bird  or  a  chicken  can  not  be  so  com- 
pletely pulverized  by  pressing  upon  it.  After  the  flesh, 
or  soft  part  of  the  chicken  is  removed,  the  bones — 
hard  and  tough — remain.  After  the  horny  case  that 
incloses  the  insect  is  broken,  the  soft  parts,  or  flesh, 
are  found  within.  The  crust  that  envelops  it,  is  the  fly's 
skeleton.  The  fly  wears  its  skeleton  on  the  outside  of 
its  flesh ;  the  chicken  wears  its  skeleton  on  the  inside. 

The  fly  digests  its  food  much  more  simply  than 
does  the  chicken.  Through 
its  body  runs  a  single  tube 
which  is  enlarged  in  one 
place  for  a  gizzard  armed 
with  horny  teeth ;  and  in 
anotner  place  it  swells  into  a 
sac  for 'a  stomach.  No  red 

Fig.  9.  Breathing  Tubes  of  Ply. 

blood   appears  to  flow  when 

the  insect  is  wounded  or  crushed.    The  blood  of  insects 

is  white  or  colorless. 

Another  peculiarity  of  the  fly,  and  of  its  fellow  in- 
sects, is  the  way  in  which  they  breathe.  They  do  not 
draw  the  air  through  the  mouth  into  lungs,  as  we  do. 
They  have  no  lungs.  In  the  crust  which  covers  their 
bodies  are  holes,  or  spiracles  (sp\  that  open  into  tubes. 
These  tubes,  swelling  into  air-sacs  here  and  there, 
branch  into  every  part  of  the  body.  Alongside  of 
them  lie  the  blood-vessels  which  receive  air  from  the 
tubes,  as  our  blood  takes  air  from  our  lungs. 

L.  C.-6. 


82  LIVING  CREATURES. 

After  finding  so  many  odd  features  in  the  fly,  it  .need 
not  be  surprising  to  learn  that  the  young  fly  comes  to 
be  full-grown  in  a  wonderful  way.  The  hen  lays  an 
egg  from  which  a  chicken  is  hatched — a  small,  downy, 
feeble  thing — which  in  two  years  becomes  an  adult 
fowl.  The  fly  lays  an  egg  that  hatches,  when  behold ! 
not  a  little  fly,  but  a  small,  white  worm  or  grub  about 
one  third  of  an  inch  long.  This  thing  the  ancients 
called  a  larva,  which  means  a  mask,  because  a  real  fly 
was  supposed  to  be  hidden  within. 

The  fly's  eggs  are  laid  and  hatched  in  the  litter 
which  collects  about  the  stable,  or  elsewhere.  The 
minute  grub  eats  heartily  for  perhaps  a  week,  and  then 
appears  to  die,  and  change  into  a  shelly  case.  To  this 
little  thing,  quiet  and  motionless  as  a  mummy,  the 
name  pupa  was  given,  which  means  a  doll  or  girl.  In 
about  two  weeks  this  pupa  splits  open,  when,  not  a 
doll  or  a  girl,  but  a  full-grown,  full-winged  fly  steps 
out,  dries  its  wings,  and  flies  away,  as  if  it  knew  all 
about  the  world. 

After  the  great  army  of  summer  flies  has  been  de- 
stroyed by  age,  by  fly-traps,  and  cool  weather,  a  few 
strong  ones  remain  stupid,  sleeping  like  woodchucks 
and  bears,  until  spring.  Then,  about  the  month  of 
May,  the  laying  commences,  a  single  fly  depositing 
several  hundred  eggs.  These  hatch,  pass  through  the 
changes  described,  and  many  of  them,  in  turn,  produce 
eggs.  The  easiest  way  to  be  rid  of  the  immense  swarms 
of  summer  is  to  destroy  the  spring  mothers,  which  are 
few.  In  the  same  way  it  is  easier  to  strangle  a  bad 
habit  than  to  fight  down  all  the  wrong  actions  that 
spring  from  it. 


A    MUSICAL    BURGLAR.  83 


19.    A    MUSICAL    BURGLAR. 

ISAAC  T.  HOPPER  was  a  kind,  humorous  Quaker,  who 
lived  in  New  York  City  forty  years  ago.  He  was  al- 
ways ready  to  give  or  take  a  joke.  One  day  when  he 
was  buying  some  peaches  at  a  fruit-stand,  he  said  to 
the  woman,  "A  serious  accident  happened  at  our 
house  last  night.  I  killed  two  robbers."  "  Dear  me !  " 
she  exclaimed.  "Were  they  young  men,  or  old  con- 
victs?" "I  don't  know  about  that,"  he  replied.  "I 
should  think  they  might  have  been  by  the  noise  they 
made.  But  I  despatched  them  before  they  had  stolen 
much.  The  walls  are  quite  bloody." 

"Has  a  coroner's  inquest  been  called?"  inquired 
the  woman.  When  he  answered  "No,"  she  lifted  her 
hands  in  astonishment,  and  exclaimed:  "Well  now,  I 
do  declare !  If  anybody  else  had  done  it  there  would 
have  been  a  great  fuss  about  it ;  but  you  are  a  priv- 
ileged man,  Mr.  Hopper."  When  he  was  about  to 
walk  away,  he  said  to  the  woman,  ' '  I  did  not  mention 
to  thee  that  the  robbers  I  killed  were  two  mosquitoes." 

The  insect  to  which  the  Spaniards  have  given  the 
pretty  name  of  mosquito  is  a  burglar.  It  enters  the 
house  at  night  for  the  purpose  of  stealing.  For  a  rob- 
ber its  way  is  a  bold  and  honest  one.  It  is  not  a 
sneak-thief.  With  the  sound  of  music  it  advances,  for 
it  is  a  bugler  as  well  as  a  burglar. 

Why  does  this  winged  robber  so  loudly  announce 
her  coming?  Rather,  one  would  say,  let  her  slip 
quietly  in  when  the  victims  are  asleep,  take  a  little 
tube  full  of  blood  and  be  off. 


84 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


To  most  people  the  bugle  of  the  mosquito  is  as  un- 
welcome as  her  lancet-sting.  It  gives  a  musical  sound, 
but  there  are  fidgety  thoughts  of  surgery  and  blood 
mingled  with  the  music.  Possibly  this  is  the  very  rea- 
son why  the  mosquito  pipes  her  tune — to  irritate  the 
nerves  of  her  poor  victim,  who 
is  trying  to  coax  sleep.  When 
the  victim  is  excited,  the  blood 
flows  more  freely,  and  the  veins 


Mosquito   and  Imago  Magnified. 

are  full.  Very  appropriate  -is  it,  therefore,  for  this 
visitor  to  fill  a  vein  by  her  noise,  before  she  taps  it 
with  her  beak. 

Like  the  house  fly,  our  night-warbler  has  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  true  insect — the  head,  the  thorax, 
and  the  abdomen  ;  the  six  legs  and  two  wings.  In 
some  respects  she  is  different  from  the  fly,  and  she  is 


A   MUSICAL    BURGLAR. 


far  more  beautiful.  Her  form  is  more  graceful  and 
elegant.  Her  attire  is  as  gorgeous  as  a  queen's.  Her 
wings,  as  thin  as  a  spider's  web,  are  of  soft,  amber 
color.  Her  breast  is  brilliant  red ;  her  body  dark 
green  ;  her  eyes  glittering  like  diamonds ;  the  proboscis, 
with  which  she  pierces  for  blood,  keener  than  the  finest 
needle-point,  and  bright,  like  polished  ebony.  All 
this  beauty,  however,  is  lost  in  the  darkness  of  night, 
and  in  the  day-time,  can  be  seen  only  by  the  aid  of 
the  microscope. 

The  complete  mosquito  lives  wholly  in  the  air, 
though  its  infancy  is  passed  in  the  water.  The  egg 
from  which  it  is  hatched  is  one  of  several  hundred 
which,  when  laid,  are  glued  together  in 
the  shape  of  a  boat,  and  set  afloat  on 
the  water.  In  about  a  week  these  eggs 
are  hatched,  and  then  appears  the  swarm 
of  larvae,  or  "  wigglers, "  so  often  seen  in 
a  stagnant  pool,  where  they  eat  the  par- 
ticles of  decaying  matter  that  may  con- 
tain the  germs  of  disease.  When  the 
water  is  undisturbed,  these  active  swim- 
mers are  found  near  the  surface,  with 
their  heads  downwards.  They  breathe 
the  air  through  a  hairy  tube  extending 
out  near  the  tail.  Touch  the  top  of  the 
water  and  they  quickly  wiggle  to  the  bottom  for  safety. 

From  ten  to  fifteen  days  after  these  larvae — the  wig- 
glers— appear,  they  change  into  the  pupa  state.  The 
pupa  sheds  its  skin  several  times,  and  moves  or  tumbles 
around  by  the  use  of  two  small  fins  or  paddles.  In 
about  ten  days,  when  the  perfect  mosquito  is  grown 


Mosquito  Larva. 


86  LIVING    CREATURES. 

within,  the  pupa  shell  bursts  open  on  the  back  and 
forms  a  boat  or  raft.  The  mosquito  puts  out  its  head, 
then  one  pair  of  legs  after  another,  until  all  are  out, 
and  the  wings  are  free  though  wet.  Now  it  balances 
itself  on  its  tail,  waiting  for  the  legs  and  wings  to 
grow  strong  and  dry  enough  for  use.  This  is  a  dan- 
gerous moment.  A  gust  of  wind  or  a  drop  of  rain 
will  cause  a  shipwreck.  For  this  reason  mosquitoes 
are  only  brought  forth  in  still  or  stagnant  waters. 

PART  2. 

WHEN  the  voyage  of  infancy  is  successfully  passed, 
the  complete  mosquitoes  begin  life  on  the  wing.  The 
males,  during  a  very  short  life,  remain  in  the  woods 
and  marshes.  The  females  alone  do  the  biting,  and 
they  at  once  set  out  to  find  victims  that  have  blood. 
Whether  they  can  see  in  the  dark,  or  can  scent  their 
prey  afar  off,  it  is  not  certain.  Something  enables 
them  to  find  human  habitations,  and  the  sleeping  in- 
mates whom  they  serenade. 

The  beak  that  extends  out  in  front  of  the  head  is  a 
case  of  piercing  instruments  which  our  burglar  brings 
with  her.  They  are  the  mouth-parts  of  the  mosquito, 
and  are  very  different  from  the  mouth-organs  of  the 
house  fly.  When  not  in  use,  they  are  laid  close  to- 
gether, and  are  sheathed  by  the  under  lip. 

In  Figure  10  appears  the  head  of  the  mosquito 
with  its  compound  eyes.  Curving  out  -from  the  fore- 
head, to  right  and  left,  are  the  antennae,  or  principal 
feelers  (a).  Below  these  is  the  upper  lip  (ul)  which 
has  a  groove  running  its  full  length  to  receive  the 


A    MUSICAL    BURGLAR.  8/ 

tongue  (t),  the  two  large  jaws  (lj}  and  the  two  small 
jaws  (sj).  These  jaws  are  not  really  such,  but  are 
more  like  fangs.  The  upper  ones,  indeed,  convey 
poison  into  the  wound,  as  do  the  fangs  of  the  rattle- 
snake ;  and  this  poison  dilutes  the  blood  and  makes  it 
flow  to  the  tongue  through  which  it  is  drawn  into  the 
stomach.  The  lower  jaws  are 
barbed  at  the  end,  that  they  may 
work  back  and  forth  like  saws. 

These  mouth  parts  are  spread 
out  in  the  figure,  to  show  them 
more  distinctly.  When  the -mos- 
quito bites  they  are  pressed  to-  Fig" ia  Mouth  part8' 
gether  in  the  upper  lip,  making  a  beak  like  an  awl. 
When  our  tuneful  robber  proposes  to  take  blood,  she 
discourses  her  music  in  circling  flights  about  an  un- 
easy head,  until  she  finds  a  favorable  spot.  There  she 
lights,  gracefully  setting  down  one  foot  after  another, 
and  at  once  thrusts  through  the  skin  her  compound 
awl, — sheath,  poison  fangs,  saws  and  tongue — and 
draws  her  meal  of  blood. 

Some  have  supposed  her  song  to  be  caused  by  the 
motion  of  her  wings,  which  make  fifty  vibrations  in  a 
second.  Others  have  thought  the  song  to  be  produced 
by  the  insect  blowing  through  her  breathing  tubes. 
Whatever  its  cause,  the  mosquito's  tune  would  be  a 
charming  one  were  it  not  associated  with  instruments 
of  torture  and  a  blood-thirsty  tongue. 

There  are  in  this  country  over  thirty  varieties  of  mos- 
quitoes. Some  are  small  and  others  are  quite  large. 
Some  live  wholly  on  vegetable  juices,  while  others  have 
a  passion  for  animal  fluids.  The  largest,  and  perhaps 


88  LIVING    CREATURES. 

the  most  ferocious  kind,  is  one  which  the  steamboatmen 
of  the  Mississippi  River  call  the  gallinipper.  Of  it  they 
tell  strange  stories.  They  describe  it  as  being  as  large 
as  a  goose ;  and  they  gravely  declare  that  it  flies  about 
at  night  with  a  brick-bat  under  its  wings  to  sharpen 
its  beak  with. 


2O.    TO    A    MOSQUITO. 

FAIR  insect!  that  with  thread-like  legs  spread  out, 
And  blood-extracting  bill  and  filmy  wing, 

Dost  murmur,  as  thou  slowly  sail'st  about, 
In  pitiless  ears  full  many  a  plaintive  thing, 

And  tell  how  little  our  large  veins  would  bleed, 

Would  we  but  yield  them  to  thy  bitter  need. 

Unwillingly,  I  own,  and,  what  is  worse, 
Full  angrily  men  hearken  to  thy  plaint; 

Thou  gettest  many  a  brush,  and  many  a  curse, 
For  saying  thou  art  gaunt,  and  starved,  and  faint; 

Even  the  old  beggar,  while  he  asks  for  food, 

Would  kill  thee,  hapless  stranger,  if  he  could. 


Beneath  the  rushes  was  thy  cradle  swung, 

And  when  at  length  thy  gauzy  wings  grew  strong, 

Abroad  to  gentle  airs  their  folds  were  flung, 
Rose  in  the  sky  and  bore  thee  soft  along ; 

The  south  wind  breathed  to  waft  thee  on  the  way, 

And  danced  and  shone  beneath  the  billowy  bay. 


THE    HOUSE    CRICKET.  89 


21.    THE  HOUSE  CRICKET. 

TENDER  insects,  says  White,  that  live  abroad,  either 
enjoy  only  the  short  period  of  one  summer,  or  doze 
away  the  cold,  uncomfortable  months  in  profound  slum- 
bers. But  the  house  crickets,  residing,  as  it  were,  in  a 
torrid  zone,  are  always  alert  and  merry.  A  good 
Christmas  fire  is  to  them  what  the  heat  of  the  dog-day 
is  to  others. 

Around  in  sympathetic  mirth, 

Its  tricks  the  kitten  tries; 
The  cricket  chirrups  in  the  hearth, 
The  crackling  faggot  flies. 

As  one  would  suppose,  by  their  living  near  fires,  they 
are  a  thirsty  race,  and  show  a  liking  for  liquids,  being 
frequently  found  drowned  in  pans  of  water,  milk,  broth, 
or  the  like.  Whatever  is  moist  they  seek  for,  and 
therefore  they  gnaw  holes  in  wet  woolen  stockings  and 
aprons  that  are  hung  near  the  fire.  These  animals  are 
not  only  very  thirsty,  but  very  hungry ;  for  they  will 
eat  yeast,  crumbs,  and  kitchen  sweepings  of  almost 
every  description. 

In  summer  they  have  been  seen  to  fly,  when  it  be- 
came dusk,  out  of  the  windows  and  over  the  neigh- 
boring roofs.  This  accounts  for  their  coming  to  new 
houses  where  they  were  not  known  before — pleased 
with  the  moisture  of  the  walls,  and  getting  into  the 
soft  cracks  between  the  bricks. 

Common  prejudice  frequently  prevents  any  attempt 
being  made  to  rid  the  house  of  this  noisy  animal. 
Many  persons  imagine  that  their  presence  is  attended 


90  LIVING    CREATURES. 

with  good  fortune,  and  that  to  drive  them  away  or  kill 
them  will  bring  some  misfortune  on  the  family. 

The  noise  of  the  cricket  is  produced  by  the  male. 
He  elevates  his  horny  wing-cases,  and  rubs  them  briskly 
together.  The  sound,  no  doubt,  suggested  the  name, 
for  it  is  just  like  the  syllables,  cree-cree.  It  is  in  the 
dusk  of  the  evening,  when  friendly  faces  are  assem- 


House  and  Field  Crickets. 


bled  around  the  blazing  hearth,  that  the  warmth  raises 
the  cricket's  cry.  It  is  the  single  tale,  the  one  chant 
of  its  life ;  and  however  loud  the  conversation  or  the 
laugh,  its  shrill  note  is  heard  through  all. 

This  shrilling  of  the  cricket  was  once  so  troublesome 
to  a  lady  as  to  cause  her  to  resort  to  every  means  to 
dislodge  the  insect  from  its  roost ;  but  all  in  vain.  It 
so  happened  that  a  wedding  was  celebrated  in  her 


CRICKETS    OF    THE    FIELD.  9! 

house,  with  all  kinds  of  music.  The  trumpet  and  the 
drum  were  rather  more  than  the  cricket  could  cry 
down ;  and  whether  from  fright,  or  from  anger  at  being 
conquered,  it  is  not  certain ;  but  certain  it  is  that 
crickets  never  again  troubled  the  house  or  the  lady. 
There  are  few,  however,  who  object  to  the  cry;  for 
over  the  hearts  of  most  men  the  merry  chirp  of  the 
house  cricket  has  power,  calling  up  those  days  when 
its  single  note  was  mingled  with  many  a  voice  which 
will  not,  perhaps,  be  heard  again. 

The  learned  Scaliger,  who  lived  in  Italy  more  than 
three  hundred  years  ago,  kept  some  crickets  in  a  box 
to  cheer  him  in  his  labors.  This  practice  also  prevails 
in  Spain ;  and  in  Africa  persons  make  a  trade  of  crick- 
ets. They  feed  them  in  a  kind  of  iron  oven,  and  sell 
them  to  the  natives,  among  whom  the  noise  they  make 
is  thought  to  be  pleasing;  and  these  people  believe 
that  it  assists  in  lulling  them  to  sleep. 


22.    CRICKETS    OF    THE    FIELD. 

WHILE  taking  our  evening  rambles  over  the  field,  we 
sometimes  hear  the  cheerful  summer  cry  of  the  field 
cricket.  But  they  are  so  sly  and  cautious,  says  White, 
that  it  is  difficult  to  obtain  sight  of  one  of  these  sonor- 
ous animals ;  for,  feeling  a  person's  footsteps  as  he  ad- 
vances, they  stop  short  in  the  midst  of  their  song,  and 
retire  backward,  nimbly  into  their  burrows,  until  all 
suspicion  of  danger  is  over. 


92  LIVING    CREATURES. 

There  is  one  way,  however,  by  which  any  one  may 
obtain  his  wish, — by  gently  pushing  a  limber  stalk  into 
their  burrows,  which  will  probe  their  windings  to  the 
bottom.  This  will  quickly  bring  out  the  animal  as  it 
lays  hold  of  the  stalk  with  its  paws. 

When  the  males  meet,  they  fight  fiercely,  as  White 
found  by  some  which  he  put  into  the  crevices  of  a  dry 
stone  wall,  where  he  wanted  them  to  settle.  The  first 
that  got  possession  of  the  crevices  would  attack  any 
that  tried  to  enter.  They, would  seize  them  with  their 
strong  jaws,  which  are  toothed  like  the  shears  of  a  lob- 
ster-claw. With  these  jaws,  too,  they  bore  and  round 
their  curious  cells. 

They  feed  on  such  herbs  as  grow  before  the  mouths 
of  their  burrows,  and  rarely  stir  more  than  two  or  three 
inches  from  home.  Sitting  in  the  entrance  of  their  cav- 
erns, they  chirp  all  night  as  well  as  all  day,  from  the 
month  of  May  to  the  middle  of  July.  In  hot  weather, 
when  they  are  most  vigorous,  they  make  the  hill  echo ; 
and  in  the  still  hours  of  darkness,  they  may  be  heard  at 
considerable  distance. 


23.    BUSY    BEES. 

IT  requires  a  busy  pen  to  write  about  busy  bees. 
There  is  the  bumble  bee  sporting  in  a  yellow  and  black 
jacket,  and  sometimes  called  Bombus.  What  brave 
boy  in  the  country  has  not  at  some  time  made  a  hero 
of  himself  by  attacking  a  bumble  bees'  nest  ? 

We   learn   that  Bombus,  if  undisturbed  in  her  hum- 


BUSY    BEES.  93 

ble  home,  does  some  valuable  work,  though  she  has  no 
honey  to  spare.  Because  she  has  a  longer  tongue  than 
the  honey  bee  has,  she  can  reach  the  nectar  in  the  deep 
corolla  of  a  red  clover  flower ;  and  in  so  doing  she  car- 
ries the  pollen  from  one  stem  to  another,  thus  enabling 
the  flower  to  bear  seed.  No  bumble  bees,  no  clover 
seed.  The  people  in  New  Zealand  tried  to  raise  clover 
and  failed.  Why?  The  bumble  bee  was  not  there. 
So  they  imported  her,  and,  doubtless,  were  happy  in 
their  sweet-scented  crops  of  red  clover.  Truly  great  is 
Bombus !  But  we  must  let  her  go. 


Queen.  Drone.  Worker. 

The  hive  bee  is  our  busy,  curious,  wonderful  honey- 
maker.  The  honey  bee  is  a  trinity — the  queen,  the 
drone,  and  the  worker.  All  the  three  are  necessary  to 
the  life  and  prosperity  of  the  colony,  which  may  con- 
tain fifty  thousand  busy  people.  The  picture  shows 
the  form  peculiar  to  each  of  the  three.  The  queen 
is  the  mother  of  the  whole  colony.  The  worker-bees 
respect  and  love  her  because  she  is  mother.  She 
does  not  rule  the  workers,  nor  does  she  direct  their 
movements.  The  bee-government  is  purely  a  govern- 
ment by  the  people.  The  workers  can  get  rid  of  the 
queen  or  make  a  new  queen  when  they  choose. 

The  workers  are  females,  but  as  a  rule  lay  no  eggs. 


94 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


The  drones  are  males,  but  neither  work  nor  sting ;  for 
the  best  of  reasons — because  they  have  no  tools  for 
working  or  stinging.  The  queen  and  the  workers  have 
a  sting  in  the  abdomen.  The  workers  defend  the  hive 
by  the  use  of  this  weapon,  but  they  never  attack  when 
abroad  and  about  their  work.  The  queen  uses  her 
sting  in  combat  with  another  queen,  but  never  upon  a 

human  hand ;  so  that 
she  may  be  handled 
without  danger. 

All  bees  have  com- 
pound eyes.  Ears, 
or  hearing  organs, 
they  must  have,  for 
the  piping  of  the 
young  queen  in  her 
cell  sets  the  others 
astir.  They  smell, 
also,  for  they  follow 
the  scent  of  unseen 
honey.  Where  the 
ears  and  nose  are,  it 
is  not  certain.  They 
is  also  the  sense  of 


Improved  Hive. 


may  be  in  the  antennae,   where 
feeling. 

The  business  of  bees  is  gathering  food  for  themselves 
and  for  their  young.  If  they  are  well  kept,  they  store 
a  great  deal  more  honey  than  is  necessary  for  this  pur- 
pose. From  this  abundance  comes  the  honey  which 
human  people  use.  To  understand  the  work  of  bees 
you  must  gather  some  flowers  and  have  them  explained 
to  you.  The  material  which  bees  procure  for  their  use 


R  A 

UNIVERSITY 
BUSY    BEES. 


is  the  sweet  or  nectar  of  flowers,  and  the  pollen  or 
flower-dust.  This  pollen  lies  on  the  stamens  of  flow- 
ers, and  must  be  conveyed  to  the  pistils  in  order  that 
the  flower  may  ripen  into  seed  or  fruit.  This  explains 
something  about  the  clover  already  referred  to.  There 
is  also  a  sticky  substance  called  propolis,  with  which 
the  bees  fasten  their  comb  to  the  hive  or  frames,  and 
which  they  gather  from  willow  or  alder  trees. 

The  worker-bee's  mouth  is  perfectly  adapted  to  the 
work  of  taking  nectar  from  flowers.  It  has  a  long  lip 
and  a  much  longer  tongue.  Jaws  there  are,  too ;  not 
harsh  ones  like  the  beetle's,  but  strong  enough  to 
serve  the  bees  in  working  wax  and  bee-bread.  Sup- 
pose a  queen  and  a  few  workers  have  weathered  the 
winter  and  are  to  commence  their  spring  work.  The 
first  thing  they  need,  beside  their  daily  food,  is  wax. 
The  workers  start  out  for  flowers  and  nectar.  The 
queen  never  works. 

The  sweet-scented  flowers  rarely  yield  nectar ;  so 
the  workers  find  the  red  and  golden  maple,  and  among 
later  blossoms  the  flowers  of  apple,  quince,  raspberry, 
white  clover,  and  buckwheat.  These  they  probe  with 
their  tongues — sometimes  crawling  into  them — and  lick 
up  the  nectar.  This  sweet  goes  to  their  stomachs, 
where  it  is  made  into  two  things — honey  and  wax. 
The  material  for  about  twenty  pounds  of  honey  will 
yield  one  pound  of  wax. 

Bees  have  a  fine  sense  of  direction ;  and  when  about 
to  return  from  their  pastures,  which  they  sometimes 
follow  as  far  as  four  miles  from  their  hive,  they  rise 
in  the  air  and  whirl  round  so  as  to  see  the  familiar 
objects  about  them,  and  then  start  off  in  a  perfectly 


g  LIVING    CREATURES. 

straight  line,  which  is  called  a  "bee-line."  Having 
filled  themselves  with  nectar,  and  having  taken  a  good 
drink  of  water,  they  fly  back  to  the  hive,  and  hang 
from  its  top  in  thick  clusters  or  festoons,  holding  to 
one  another  by  their  legs.  In  twenty-four  hours, 
small  plates  of  wax  appear  in  pouches  on  their  under- 
parts,  or  abdomens. 

The  workers  shake  the  wax  from  their  bodies,  or 
pick  it  out  of  the  pouches  with  their  feet ;  then  take 
it  in  their  jaws,  work  it  over  with  saliva,  and  from  it 

build  cells  in  double  rows.  A 
great  many  are  at  work,  and 
they  crowd  one  another  close- 
ly. Wonderful  indeed  are 
these  cells  !  always  six-sided  ; 
never  round  or  square.  Why 
are  they  six-sided,  and  not 
square?  How  awkward  for 
a  round  animal  to  turn  in  a 

Hexagons  and  Circles.  gquare     fofe  |        But     why     nQt 

round?  With  the  diagram  before  you,  these  ques- 
tions will  be  left  for  you  to  study  upon. 

Besides  nectar  for  honey,  pollen  is  required  for  bee- 
bread.  This  is  mixed  with  honey  for  ordinary  food, 
and  is  quite  necessary  in  the  preparation  of  baby-food 
for  the  young  or  larvae.  Should  you  ask  a  bee  why, 
in  gathering  pollen,  she  confines  herself  to  one  variety 
of  flowers  at  one  time,  she  could,  perhaps,  give  you 
no  reason,  even  if  she  could  talk.  To  keep  the  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  plants  unmixed,  it  is  necessary  that 
this  should  be  so. 

The  pollen  is  scraped  up  and  rolled  into  balls,  and 


BUSY    BEES.  97 

then  packed  into  little  baskets  at  the  middle  joints  of 
the  hind  legs.  The  right  foot  is  used  to  fill  the  left 
pocket,  and  the  left  foot  to  fill  the  right  pocket. 

PART  2. 

THE  cells  are  made  for  four  different  purposes — for 
the  young  workers,  drones,  and  queens,  and  for  stor- 
ing honey.  Four  drone  cells  or  five  worker  cells  will 
measure  an"  inch.  The  queen  cell  is  larger.  Honey 
cells  are  not  uniform  in  size,  but  are  about  a  half  inch 
deep  by  a  quarter  inch  in  diameter.  Remember  the 
queen  lays  all  the  eggs.  She  places  a  single  egg  in 
each  nursery  cell,  always  being  careful  to  deposit 
worker  eggs  in  worker  cells,  drone  eggs  in  drone  cells. 
She  makes  no  mistakes.  The  grown  workers  seal  up 
these  cells,  leaving  little  holes  for  air  to  enter,  when 
the  young  shall  be  hatched.  The  honey  cells,  when 
filled,  they  always  seal  tight  to  keep  the  honey  from 
turning  to  candy.  In  about  three  days  the  eggs  in  the 
cells  are  hatched,  and  the  young  appear  in  the  shape 
of  small,  white  grubs  or  larvae. 

Now  some  of  the  workers  act  as  nurses,  and  are 
busy  preparing  food  for  the  young  in  their  cells. 
Pollen,  honey,  and  water  are  mixed,  and  partly  di- 
gested in  the  stomachs  of  the  nurses,  and  this  mixture 
is  fed  to  the  working  and  drone  infants.  A  more 
stimulating  substance,  called  royal  jelly,  is  given  to 
the  queen-grubs,  of  which  there  are  usually  about  five. 
And,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  should  all  the  queens  be 
destroyed,  the  workers  will  feed  the  royal  jelly  to  a 

worker-grub  not  more  than  three  days  old ;  enlarge  its 
L.  c.-7. 


Q8 


LIVING  CREATURES. 


cell,  and  in  due  time  it 
will  become  a  queen.  In 
five  or  six  days  the  larvae 
have  attained  their  full 
growth.  Then  they  cease 
to  eat,  spin  about  them- 
selves silken  cocoons,  be- 
come pupae,  and  the  work- 
ers seal  their  cells.  In 
twenty-one  days  from  the 

laying  of  the  eggs,  the  perfect  insects — the  full-grown 

bees — come  forth. 

About  this  time,   which  is  likely  to  be   in  May  or 

June,   swarming   commences.     The   new  workers   and 

drones  are  released  from  their  cells,   but  not   so   the 


BUSY    BEES.  99 

queens.  They  are  still  confined,  and  are  strongly 
guarded  by  the  workers,  who  bore  holes  in  the  cells, 
through  which  openings  they  pass  the  food.  The  old 
queen  hears  the  piping  of  the  royal  prisoners,  and  be- 
comes greatly  excited  ;  and  from  jealousy  would  de- 
stroy them  if  she  could.  Then  a  large  portion  of  the 
bees  fill  themselves  with  honey,  and  joining  the  old 
queen,  in  a  dense,  whirling  body  leave  the  hive,  and 
cluster,  it  may  be,  on  some  branch  from  which  they 
are  carefully  swept  into  a  basket,  and  are  then  put 
into  a  new  hive. 

It  is  when  the  new  swarm  bursts  forth,  that  some 
people  in  the  country  raise  a  cry  and  a  din  with  tin 
pans  and  cow-bells,  hoping  by  this  means  to  make  the 
bees  settle.  Precisely  this  same  practice  was  common 
among  the  Romans  more  than  two  thousand  years 
ago.  The  old  fashioned  hive  in  this  country  is  a  piece 
of  a  hollow  tree,  called  a  "gum."  In  Europe  it  is 
made  of  straw,  and  has  the  shape  of  a  little  dome  and 
is  quite  picturesque. 

The  Romans  used  a  hollow  cork-tree.  Our  improved 
hives  have  movable  frames  in  which  the  bees  make 
their  comb,  as  shown  on  page  94.  In  the  lower  part 
of  the  hive  are  the  brood  combs  and  some  of  the 
honey.  In  the  upper  part,  in  nice  frames,  in  glass 
boxes,  or  in  other  receptacles,  the  bees  store  their 
surplus  honey,  and  in  these  it  is  easily  removed. 

With  the  improved  hives,  the  wild  swarming  and  the 
music  of  the  tin  pan  may  be  prevented.  Some  of  the 
frames  containing  brood-comb  may  be  gently  taken  out 
and  set  into  a  new  hive.  The  old  queen  may  be  found 
and  transferred  to  the  new  home ;  or  a  queen  cell,  near 


100  LIVING  CREATURES. 

the  time  of  hatching,  may  be  cut  out  and  inserted  in 
the  comb  in  the  new  hive. 

If  handled  gently,  bees  are  not  apt  to  sting,  though 
the  bee-hat  and  a  little  smoke  are  often  made  use  of. 
A  very  pretty  case  of  swarming  is  told  by  a  French 
bee-keeper :  ' '  A  young  girl  of  my  acquaintance,  who 
was  much  afraid  of  bees,  was  completely  cured  of  her 
fear  by  the  following  incident :  A  swarm  having  come 
off,  I  observed  the  queen  alight  by  herself  at  a  little 
distance  from  the  apiary  (bee-house).  I  immediately 
called  my  little  friend,  that  I  might  show  her  the 
queen.  She  wished  to  see  her  more  closely. 

"So  after  having  caused  her  to  put  on  her  gloves, 
I  gave  the  queen  into  her  hand.  We  were  in  an  in- 
stant surrounded  by  all  the  bees  of  the  swarm.  I  en- 
couraged the  girl  to  be  steady,  bidding  her  be  silent 
and  fear  nothing.  I  then  made  her  stretch  out  her  right 
hand,  which  held  the  queen,  and  covered  her  head  and 
shoulders  with  a  very  thin  handkerchief.  The  swarm 
soon  fixed  on  her  hand  and  hung  from  it  as  from  the 
branch  of  a  tree.  The  little  girl  was  delighted  beyond 
measure,  and  the  spectators  were  charmed  with  the  in- 
teresting spectacle.  At  length  I  brought  a  hive,  and, 
shaking  the  swarm  from  her  hand,  it  was  lodged  in 
safety,  and  without  inflicting  a  single  wound." 

The  life  of  the  first  brood  of  workers  is  about  six 
weeks.  Those  hatched  later  in  the  season  live  longer, 
and  a  few  endure  the  winter.  The  queen  may  live  four 
years.  The  drones,  which  number  about  one  thirtieth 
part  of  a  hive,  are  all  slaughtered  by  the  workers,  dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  the  summer.  They  are  of  no  use 
now.  They  neither  work  nor  sting;  and  why  should 


A  NICE  LITTLE  HOUSEKEEPER.  IOI 

they  be  fed?  Bee-life,  like  other  insect  life,  like  bird- 
life,  and  man-life,  is  beset  with  struggles  and  dangers. 
Bee-moths,  rats,  mice,  woodpeckers,  bee-martin  birds, 
toads,  and  bears  are  all  after  the  little  honey  maker's 
honey  or  its  life. 


24.    A  NICE    LITTLE    HOUSEKEEPER. 

Jenny.  WELL,  Mrs.  Ant,  I  am  glad  to  see  you  here 
again.  I  quite  missed  you. 

Ant.  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  thinking  of  me, 
Miss  Jenny.  However,  I  have  not  been  away  since 
the  last  time  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  you. 

Jenny.  But  I  have  seen  nothing  of  you  since  last 
October,  though  I  have  come  to  the  nest  several  times 
to  inquire  for  you. 

Ant.  I  assure  you,  Miss  Jenny,  I  have  not  stirred 
from  this  spot  since  last  autumn,  until  yesterday,  when 
I  came  out  for  the  first  time,  and  we  began  our  spring 
house-cleaning  and  repairs,  which  you  see  are  going  on 
very  actively. 

Jenny.  I  should  like  to  see  the  interior  of  one  of 
your  houses. 

Ant  (in  great  alarm).  I  hope  you  will  not  think  of 
examining  one  of  them,  Miss  Jenny.  It  would  afford 
you  very  little  gratification,  and  it  would  inflict  great 
injury  on  us. 

Jenny.  Do  not  be  disturbed,  Mrs.  Ant.  I  have  not 
the  least  idea  of  digging  up  your  nice  nest  and  spoil- 


IO2  LIVING    CREATURES. 

ing  all  your  walls  and  galleries.  But  I  should  be  glad 
to  have  you  tell  me  something  about  them. 

Ant.  I  hardly  know  how  to  describe  them  to  you, 
my  dear.  We  build  almost  entirely  under  ground,  ex- 
cavating arched  chambers,  sometimes  round  or  oval, 
but  all  well  smoothed  and  hard  finished.  These  are 
connected  by  galleries.  Some  of  our  nests  are  three 
or  four  feet  deep,  and  occupy  a  large  space,  like  this 
one,  which  you  see,  has  several  different  entrances. 

Jenny.  I  should  like  to  hear  something  more  about 
ants,  if  you  are  not  too  busy  to  talk  to  me. 

Ant.  O,  I  have  nothing  to  do  at  present.  This  is 
my  resting-time,  and  I  am  glad  to  enjoy  it,  for  I  was 
working  all  night. 

Jenny.      Do  you  work  all  night? 

Ant.  Sometimes,  when  it  is  moonlight,  and  we  are 
very  busy.  At  this  time  of  year,  especially,  v/hen 
storms  are  frequent,  we  are  very  glad  to  avail  ourselves 
of  every  hour  of  dry  weather.  But  as  I  am  at  leisure 
I  can  answer  all  your  questions.  The  nest  of  the 
horse-ant  consists,  like  ours,  of  a  great  many  cells  and 
galleries ;  though  about  half  of  their  apartments  are 
above  ground.  They  transport  their  young  ones  from 
the  upper  to  the  lower  stories,  when  it  grows  cold,  and 
back  again  when  the  sun  shines  out.  There  are  other 
ants  which  build  their  nest  wholly  in  the  earth.  These 
ants  work  only  after  sunset,  and  are  very  industrious 
and  ingenious.  Their  walls,  pillars,  and  arches  are  all 
made  of  soft  clay,  well  worked  and  tempered.  Each 
ant  brings  in  its  mouth  a  morsel  of  clay  and  joins  it 
to  the  rest,  smoothing  it  with  her  jaws  and  patting  it 
with  her  forefeet. 


A  NICE   LITTLE   HOUSEKEEPER. 


103 


(One  of  the  ants  just  at  this  point  runs  up  to  the  speak- 
er, and  after  patting  her  on  the  head  with  her  feelers,  hur- 
ries away.") 

Jenny.     What  did  your  friend  do  that  for? 

Ant.  She  told  me  in  the  ant's  language,  that  there 
was  a  lump  of  sugar  lying  in  that  flower-pot,  and  ad- 


Jenny  and  the  Ant. 

vised  me  to  go  and  help  myself  before  it  was  all 
eaten  up. 

Jenny.  Did  she  say  all  that  with  those  motions?  I 
did  not  hear  her  make  any  noise. 

Ant.  We  never  make  a  noise  when  we  talk.  We 
talk  altogether  by  signs. 


IO4  LIVING    CREATURES. 

Jenny.  But  why  do  you  not  go  and  share  in  the 
feast  with  the  others,  Mrs.  Ant?  Do  not  let  me  de- 
tain you,  if  you  wish  to  go. 

Ant.  Thank  you ;  I  do  not  care  for  it.  I  am  going 
to  milk  one  of  our  cows  by  and  by. 

Jenny.     Why,  what  do  you  mean  ? 

Ant.  I  am  going  to  milk  one  of  our  cows,  I  say. 
What  is  there  surprising  about  that?  Your  father 
keeps  several  cows,  does  he  not? 

Jenny.  Why — yes.  But  ants  !  Pray  how  large  are 
your  cows? 

Ant.  They  are  very  small,- — not  quite  so  large  as  we 
ourselves.  Just  turn  up  the  leaves  of  that  rose-bush. 
There !  Do  you  not  see  a  number  of  little  pale  green 
insects? 

Jenny.  Yes  ;  I  have  often  seen  them  before.  They 
are  plant-lice,  and  they  do  a  great  deal  of  harm  to  the 
shrubs. 

Ant.  Well,  however  that  may  be,  the  aphides,  or 
plant-lice,  are  our  little  cows,  and  yield  us  an  abun- 
dance of  nice  milk  as  sweet  as  honey.  Very  frequently 
they  live  in  the  nest  with  us,  feeding  sometimes  upon 
the  roots  of  the  plants  about  us,  and  sometimes  upon 
the  provisions  we  carry  in  for  them.  We  take  good 
care  of  them  and  of  their  young,  keeping  their  eggs  in 
the  warmest  part  of  the  nest,  in  order  that  they  may 
hatch  out  early  and  so  supply  us  in  the  spring.  Now 
I  will  milk  one  of  them.  You  see  I  pat  it  gently  with 
my  feelers,  when  it  gives  out  two  drops  of  clear  sweet 
fluid.  These  cows  are  our  most  valuable  property, 
and  we  should  fight  furiously,  if  any  one  should  inter- 
fere with  them. 


A  NICE  LITTLE  HOUSEKEEPER.  IO5 


PART  2. 

Jenny.     So  you  do  fight  sometimes. 

Ant.  Yes,  indeed ;  we  have  sharp  battles,  and  often 
leave  half  our  number  dead  upon  the  field.  These 
combats  sometimes  take  place  between  different  races, 
and  sometimes  between  two  colonies  of  the  same 
race.  At  such  times  you  may  see  thousands  of  ants 
biting,  struggling,  wrestling,  and  overturning  each 
other  in  the  dust,  till  night  puts  an  end  to  the  combat. 

Jenny.      But  what  do  they  fight  for? 

Ant.  Sometimes  for  one  thing,  sometimes  for  an- 
other. Perhaps  two  parties  have  seized  the  same  spi- 
der or  earth-worm,  or  the  ants  of  one  hill  trespass  upon 
the  pastures  and  seize  the  cows  of  another.  But  there 
are  ants  who  go  out  to  war  for  the  express  purpose  of 
making  prisoners,  which  they  carry  home  to  their  nest. 

Jenny.  What  do  they  do  with  them  ?  Not  eat  them, 
I  hope. 

Ant.  O,  no — not  quite  so  bad  as  that.  But  these 
prisoner  ants  do  all  the  work  of  the  nest  afterwards. 
The  red  ants,  who  are  the  fighters,  start  on  these  plun- 
dering expeditions  between  two  and  five  of  the  after- 
noon of  a  fine  day,  first  sending  out  ants  to  explore 
about  the  hill  they  intend  to  attack.  Upon  the  return 
of  these  scouts,  they  set  out,and  having  reached  the  col- 
ony, they  attack  it  with  great  fury.  The  dark-colored 
ants,  which  they  attack,  defend  themselves  with  great 
bravery,  but  in  vain.  The  red  assailants  are  the  strong- 
est, and  in  a  few  minutes  they  may  be  seen  coming 
out,  each  with  a  young  ant  or  an  egg  in  her  mouth, 


IO6  LIVING    CREATURES. 

with  which  she  hastens  homeward.  They  take  good 
care  of  these  slaves,  who  in  turn  take  upon  themselves 
the  whole  work  of  the  nest.  They  feed  the  young, 
repair  the  dwelling,  and  lay  up  the  provisions.  They 
even  feed  their  masters— putting  the  food  into  their 
very  mouths.  Though  these  masters  are  such  fighters, 
they  are  very  lazy,  and  will  starve  rather  than  wait  on 
themselves. 

Jenny.  What  silly  creatures !  I  do  not  see  any  of 
those  dark-colored  ants  in  your  nest. 

Ant.  No ;  we  do  our  own  work,  and  never  interfere 
with  our  neighbors  so  long  as  they  do  not  trouble  us. 
We  nurse  our  little  ones,  lay  up  our  own  provisions, 
and  all  bear  an  equal  share  in  the  repairs  and  other 
necessary  labors  about  the  nest. 

Jenny.  I  should  like  very  much  to  hear  about  your 
little  ones.  I  do  not  know  that  I  have  ever  seen  them. 

Ant.  You  have  seen  them,  though  probably  you 
did  not  know  what  they  were.  In  their  immature,  or 
pupa  state,  they  look  very  much  like  white  seeds,  or 
very  small  fine  grains  of  boiled  rice. 

Jenny.  I  have  seen  your  friends  carry  such  things 
in  and  out  of  the  nest,  but  I  supposed  they  were  lay- 
ing something  up  for  food.  But  why  do  they  bite  off 
the  ends?  I  have  seen  them  do  that  sometimes. 

Ant.  That  is  to  assist  the  young  ant  in  making  its 
way  out.  You  may  have  noticed  that  we  take  great 
care  of  these  eggs — sometimes  laying  them  in  the  sun, 
sometimes  carrying  them  into  the  interior  of  the  nest. 

Jenny.     Yes  ;  I  have  often  wondered  what  it  was  for. 

Ant.  In  order  that  they  may  have  just  as  much 
heat  as  is  good  for  them,  and  no  more.  A  great  part 


A  NICE  LITTLE  HOUSEKEEPER.  IO/ 

of  the  duty  of  the  workers  consists  in  taking  care  of 
the    eggs   and   young   ones,  and    in    attending  on   the 
queen  and  leading  her  about. 
Jenny.     Then  you  have  a  queen,  do  you  ? 

Ant.  Yes ;  but  our  queen  is  only  the  mother  of  the 
community,  and  has  no  authority  whatever  over  us. 
She  is,  however,  treated  with  the  greatest  respect  and 
affection  by  us  all.  Wherever  she  goes,  we  press 
around  her,  offer  her  food,  brush  her  dress  for  her,  and 
help  her  up  steep  ascents,  and  through  narrow  pas- 
sages. As  often  as  she  goes  through  the  nest,  the 
workers  leave  their  occupation,  pat  her  on  the  head  and 
breast,  and  stand  on  their  hind  legs,  laying  their  fore- 
feet on  each  other's  shoulders,  and  thus  dance  about 
her.  Whenever  she  lays  an  egg,  it  is  at  once  taken  up 
by  a  worker  and  carried  to  a  place  of  safety.  Some- 
times there  are  two  or  three  queens  in  the  nest,  but 
they  are  all  friendly  and  kind  to  each  other. 

Jenny.     Does  the  queen  never  go  out  of  the  nest? 

Ant.  Never.  It  would  be  considered  improper  in 
the  highest  degree  for  her  to  do  so.  Indeed,  no  sooner 
is  a  female  elected  queen  than  she  throws  away  her 
wings,  of  her  own  accord,  and  never  stirs  out  after- 
wards. 

Jenny.      But  what  becomes  of  the  males? 

Ant.  O,  they  die  very  soon  after  they  come  out. 
They  are  tender,  helpless  creatures,  and  the  first  rude 
wind  or  storm  kills  them. 

Jenny.     What  is  that  upon  the  door-step? 

Ant.  O,  I  see.  They  have  found  a  nice  fat  spider, 
which  has  been  killed  in  some  way,  and  they  are  going 
to  take  it  to  the  nest  for  food. 


io8 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


25.    BUTTERFLIES    AND    MOTHS. 

WHEN  spring  is  marching  to  'the  music  of  birds,  and 
the  leaves  are  unfolding  to  the  warm  sun,  and  the 
dandelions  lift  their  golden  heads  in  the  growing  grass, 
and  the  cows  feed  on  sweet  pastures,  and  yellow  butter 
gathers  in  the  churn,  then  come  the  butterflies. 

Fluttering   around    the   pools   on   the    country  road 

may  be  seen  the  boy's 
butterfly,  with  a  set 
of  bright,  yellow 
wings,  which  many  a 
boy  seeks  to  imprison 
with  his  new  straw 
hat.  Thinking  of  the 
butter  in  the  churn, 
it  is  easy  to  imagine 
how  this  butterfly 
came  by  its  name.  It 
is  also  called  colzas,  and 
later  in  the  season  it 
will  sport  its  wings 
among  the  blooming 
clover. 

From  the  common  yellow  butterfly  the  name  easily 
passes  to  the  great  multitude  of  cousins,  though  they 
be  brown,  or  black,  or  variegated  in  color.  Many  are 
their  sizes  as  well  as  their  colors,  and  different  families 
'have  different  shapes.  When  summer  has  fairly  come, 
in  our  temperate  climate,  the  swallow-tailed  butterflies 
appear.  A  common  one  wears  a  rich  dress  of  yellow 


Yellow  Butterfly— Colias. 


BUTTERFLIES    AND    MOTHS. 


and  black,  and  belongs  to  a  family  called  papilio  —  quite 
a  pretty  name. 

Moths,  of  which  something  particular  will  soon  be 
said,  are  naturally  thought  of  with  butterflies.  The 
common  ones  are  clad  in  sober  dress.  Under  the  mi- 
croscope, the  wings  of  all  butterflies  and  moths  disclose 
beauties  not  seen  by  the  naked  eye.  What  commonly 
appears  to  be  colored  dust,  and  rubs  off  the  wings 
under  the  touch  of  a  finger,  the  microscope  proves  to 
be  very  fine,  shiny,  or  irridescent  scales.  As  if  these 
wings  had  been  sprinkled  with  powdered  rainbow. 
Butterflies  and  moths,  on  this  account,  are  called  scale- 
winged  insects. 

When  visiting  flowers,  the  scale-winged  insect  is 
seeking  its  food,  which  is  the  sweet  juice  of  flowers. 
It  has  a  long,  tubular  tongue  or  proboscis,  which  is 
rolled  up  when  not  in  use,  and  is  unrolled  and  stretched 
out,  when  the  bottom  of  a  flower  is  to  be  reached. 

The   few   weeks    that   Papilio   lives   are   busy   ones. 
When  not  gathering  food 
she  is  finding  the  apple  or 
wild    thorn,    perhaps,    for 
a   birthplace    for   her  fut- 

Caterpillar  of  Papilio. 

ure  children.      She   never 

sees  her  children.  Very  fortunate,  you  may  think, 
when  you  come  to  know  that  her  infants  are  ugly, 
crawling  caterpillars. 

The  truth  is,  that  these  ugly  babes  can  take  care  of 
themselves  from  the  moment  they  are  born,  if  they  are 
born  in  the  right  place.  They  are  hatched  from  eggs, 
in  some  cases  beautiful  eggs,  shaped  like  vases  and 
caskets.  These  eggs  are  fastened  to  the  leaves  of 


1 10 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


plants;  and  the  mother,  during  her  brief  life,  is  seek- 
ing to  deposit  her  treasures  upon  that  particular  plant 
which,  after  her  caterpillar  infants  are  hatched,  will 
afford  them  their  proper  food. 

Does  the  child  resemble  its  mother?  Look  at  both 
very  carefully.  The  caterpillar  is  composed  of  thir- 
teen rings  joined  together.  The  three  main  parts  of 


Swallow-tailed  Butterfly— Papilio. 

the  butterfly's  body  show  the  traces  of  as  many  rings. 
The  caterpillar  has  six  jointed  legs  on  three  of  the 
rings  behind  its  head,  quite  like  the  six  legs  of  its 
mother.  These  remain  with  it  through  life.  The  four 
pairs  of  legs  on  the  rear  part  of  its  body — called  pro- 
legs — are  soft,  and  disappear  after  a  while.  The  but- 
terfly breathes  through  holes  in  its  body  as  does  the 


BUTTERFLIES    AND    MOTHS.  Ill 

fly;    so   the    caterpillar    has    breathing   holes   through 
which  the  air  passes  in  to  meet  the  blood. 

The  habits  of  the  two  are  very  different.  The  one 
flies,  the  other  crawls.  The  mother  sips  nectar  from 
flowers,  and  has  a  small  stomach  like  a  thread.  The 
child  is  nearly  all  stomach,  and  feeds  upon  leaves.  Its 
destructiveness  may  be  judged  by  the  enormous  amount 
it  eats.  The  first  day  of  its  life  it  eats  twice  its  own 
weight.  At  the  end  of  a  month  it  may  have  eaten 
forty  thousand  times  its  weight.  By  this  greediness  it 
lays  away  a  large  store  of  fat. 

To  accommodate  so  rapid  a  growth,  the  caterpillar 
needs  a  new  and  larger  suit  of  clothes,  now  and  then. 
Its  life  is  only  a  few  weeks  long,  and  during  this  time 
it  changes  its  skin  six  times.  The  skin  splits  down 
the  back  and  is  shuffled  off.  The  skins  of  some  are 
smooth ;  of  others  are  hairy,  or  covered  with  stiff 
bristles,  to  protect  them  against  other  in- 
sects and  against  birds. 

After  a  time  this  ugly  child  of  a  beau- 
tiful mother  ceases  to  eat.  It  abandons 
the  green  leaf  of  apple,  or  clover,  or 
cabbage  upon  which  it  has  been  feed- 
ing, throws  off  its  skin  and  the  lining 
of  its  stomach,  and  becomes  a  pupa. 
Under  its  chin  is  a  little  spinner  from 
which  issues  a  silken  thread.  One  pa-  Hanging  Chry8alis- 
pilio  fastens  its  tail  to  a  support  and  runs  a  silk  thread 
around  the  middle  of  its  body  to  hold  it  secure.  Some 
kinds  merely  hang  from  the  tail.  In  this  state  it  re- 
mains from  ten  to  fifteen  days,  and  is  called  a  chrysa- 
lis— which  means  gold-colored  sheath — because  some 


112 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


pupae  are  surrounded  by  a  case  ornamented  with  golden 

spots,  as  if  fastened  with  nails  of  gold. 

Is  the  chrysalis  a  little  coffin  with  a  corpse  within  ? 

No,    indeed ;    there    is  a   wonderful   life    in    progress. 

Feelers,  tongue,  legs,  and  beautiful  wings  are  grow- 
ing. But  what  does  this  life  feed  upon  ? 
Ah !  now  we  have  found  what  that  ter- 
ribly greedy  caterpillar  was  doing  when 
it  was  eating  up  our  leaves  so  outrage- 
ously. It  was  laying  away  fat  which 
feeds  the  pupa  in  the  chrysalis,  as  the 
hump  supports  the  life  of  the  camel 
when  he  is  without  his  customary  food. 
Well,  in  due  time,  if  no  enemy  has 
torn  it  away,  the  chrysalis  splits  open 
sound  chrysalis.  and  the  imagO>  the  perfect  butterfly 

comes  forth,  dries  its  wings,  and  flies  away  full-grown. 
The  ugly  child  is  at  last  as  beautiful  as  its  mother,  and 
as  large  as  she ;  and  it  never  grows  any  more. 


26.    THE    SILK-WORM. 

BUTTERFLIES  fly  in  the  day-time ;  most  moths  fly  by 
night.  When  the  butterfly  rests,  its  wings  are  raised 
over  its  back ;  when  the  moth  lights,  its  wings  remain 
flat  and  extended.  Most  moths  have  their  wings 
joined.  A  bristle  in  the  rib  of  the  hind  wing  passes 
through  a  loop  in  the  fore  wing. 

The    antennae    of    the   butterfly   stretch    out   nearly 


THE    SILK-WORM.  113 

straight,  and  end  in  knobs ;  those  of  the  moth  curve, 
and  in  nearly  all  cases  are  without  knobs.  Butterfly- 
caterpillars  spin  a  little;  moth-caterpillars  spin  much 
more.  Some  of  them  make  their  pupa  cases,  or  co- 
coons, entirely  of  silk. 

Moths  usually  wear  sober  colors.  Some  are  very 
gay  and  brilliant.  Some  are  large,  and  others  are  very 
small.  The  great  owl  moth  of  Brazil  measures  nearly 
a  foot  between  the  tips  of  its  wings.  Our  little  clothes- 
moth  expands  scarcely  a  half  inch.  Some  moth-cat- 
erpillars are  smooth.  Others  are  covered  with  bristles 
or  spines;  stiil  others  emit  an  offensive  odor — all  for 
protection  against  their  enemies. 

Moths  are  more  destructive  than  butterflies.  The 
clothes-moth  feeds  on  woolen  and  furs.  The  canker 
worm  eats  the  leaves  of  cherry,  plum,  and  elm.  The 
tussock-moth-caterpillar  preys  upon  pear  and  apple 
trees.  The  fall  web-worm  allows  very  few  trees  to  es- 
cape its  mischievous  horny  jaws.  The  tomato-worm, 
the  tobacco-worm,  the  cotton-worm  are  great  destroy- 
ers. And  all  these  so-called  "worms"  are  the  cater- 
pillars of  moths.  There  is  one  moth-caterpillar,  how- 
ever, whose  destruction  is  turned  to  good  account,  and 
a  short  history  of  it  must  be  given. 

It  is  the  mulberry  silk-worm,  so  called  because  its 
favorite  food  is  the  mulberry-tree.  Not  our  native 
tree  of  that  name,  but  the  imported  white  mulberry. 
Prof.  Riley,  of  Washington,  has,  for  nearly  fifteen  years, 
kept  silk-worms  on  the  leaves  of  the  common  osage 
orange  ;  and  their  silk  proved  to  be  of  excellent  quality. 
This  moth-caterpillar  has  a  wonderful  history,  reach- 
ing back,  it  is  thought,  as  far  as  two  thousand  years 

L.  C.— 8. 


114  LIVING    CREATURES. 

before    Christ.      China,  now  famous  for  its  silk  indus- 
try, is    supposed  to  be  its  original  home. 

For  thousands  of  years,  so  the  story  goes,  the 
Chinese  would  not  allow  the  eggs  of  their  silk-moth  to 
go  out  of  the  country.  At  length,  about  the  year  550, 
two  monks  are  said  to  have  brought  away  to  Europe 
a  few  eggs  concealed  in  their  canes.  The  silk-worm 
is  now  a  purely  domestic  animal  like  the  dog.  So  long, 
indeed,  has  it  been  fed  by  human  hands,  that  it  has 
lost  the  power  of  flight,  and  is  wholly  dependent  on. 
human  care* 

Though  the  cultivation  of  silk-worms  occupies  but 
a  few  months  in  the  year,  it  requires  great  care. 

It  can  not  be  success- 
fully conducted  on  a 
large  scale.  It  is  good 
work  for  women  and 
aged  people,  while  it 
brings  a  pleasant  little 
income  to  add  to  the 
profits  of  the  farmer. 

Silk-worm  Moth  (after  Riley.) 

A     single     silk-moth 

lays  about  four  hundred  eggs,  and  an  ounce  of  eggs 
will  number  about  thirty-five  thousand.  During  the 
winter  the  eggs  are  kept  in  proper  boxes  in  the  cellar. 
When  the  foliage  is  sufficiently  started  in  the  spring  to 
furnish  them  food,  the  eggs  are  brought  into  a  warm 
room — the  silk-worm  room — where  they  hatch  in  five 
or  six  days. 

When  about  to  hatch,  the  eggs  are  spread  out  upon 
a  clean  sheet  of  paper,  and  over  them  is  laid  a  mos- 
quito netting,  on  which  are  scattered  fresh  cut  leaves 


THE    SILK-WORM.  U5 

of  mulberry.  As  soon  as  hatched,  the  worms  crawl 
through  the  holes  of  the  netting  and  begin  to  feed. 
They  are  then  carried  on  the  net  to  the  table  where 
they  are  to  remain.  A  busy  place  is  the  silk-worm 
room,  after  life  begins.  The  worms  are  fed  twice  a  day. 
The  newly  hatched  caterpillar  is  black  or  gray,  and 
is  covered  with  long,  stiff  hairs.  By  and  by  it  grows 
into  a  cream  color,  and  its  hairs  disappear.  It  eats  its 
own  weight  of  leaves  every  day.  During  the  few  days 
before  beginning  to  spin,  it  consumes  more  than  during 
its  whole  previous  existence.  To  make  room  for  its 
rapid  increase  it  changes  its  skin  four  times  at  intervals 
of  from  four  to  ten  days.  This  experience  in  the  silk- 
worm is  called  ''sickness."  The  time  from  hatching 
to  spinning  is  about  forty  days. 


Silk-worm  Caterpillar  (after  Riley). 

When  about  to  spin,  the  worm  ceases  to  feed  and 
throws  out  threads.  The  silk  comes  from  a  fluid 
within,  which  issues  from  a  spinneret  just  beneath  the 
lower  lip.  As  the  air  strikes  the  fluid  it  hardens. 
First  the  worm  throws  around  itself  a  loose  silk  called 
floss,  as  a  sort  of  frame- work.  Then  within  this  it 
spins  a  tough,  strong,  continuous  thread,  not  in  circles, 
or  round  and  round,  but  back  and  forth — in  loops  like 
a  figure  8.  A  single  cocoon  may  contain  a  thread 
four  thousand  yards  long,  or  about  two  and  a  quarter 
miles  long.  The  work  occupies  three  or  four  days. 


Il6  LIVING    CREATURES. 

Imagine  how  active  the  head  of  that  creature  must  be 
during  these  few  days. 

The  silken  house  thus  made  looks  like  a  pea-nut. 
When  it  is  finished,  the  worm  once  more  puts  off  its 
old  skin,  which  it  packs  into  a  wad,  and  crowds  away 
in  the  end  of  the  cocoon.  Now  it  changes  into  a 
pupa,  and  so  remains  for  two  or  three  weeks. 

When  the  cocoons  are  wanted  for  silk,  as  most  of 
them  are,  and  not  for  rearing  moths  for  eggs,  the  pupa 
within  is  killed  or  choked  by  steam,  or  by  setting  the 
cocoons  on  a  tray  in  an  oven  heated  to  a  certain  de- 
gree of  temperature.  After  the  operation  of  choking, 
the  cocoons  are  dried  in  the  air  and  are  ready  for  reel- 
ing. It  takes  from  three  hundred  to  four  hundred 
fresh  cocoons,  or  three  times  as  many  choked  cocoons, 
to  weigh  a  pound.  Of  the  former,  a  pound  is  worth 
about  thirty-five  cents,  and  of  the  latter,  a  pound  is 
worth  about  one  dollar. 

The  reeling  of  silk  from  the  cocoons  is  a  nice  and 
delicate  operation..  WThen  reeled,  the  product  is  known 
as  raw  silk,  and  is  ready  to  be  twisted  into  thread  and 
to  be  woven  into  cloth. 


27.    FACTS    ABOUT    INSECTS. 

THE  dragon-fly  seen  about  ponds,  darting  here  and 
there  on  four  beautifully  colored,  gauze-like,  net-veined 
wings,  is  by  the  French  called  demoiselle  (dem  wa- 
zel')  which  means  a  young  lady.  Devil's  darning- 


FACTS    ABOUT    INSECTS.  1 1/ 

needle,  and  mosquito  hawk  are  its  popular  names.  The 
last  name  indicates  a  work  these  hawks  do  which 
ought  to  make  friends  for  them.  They  never  walk  ; 
they  are  always  on  the  wing.  Watch  them  closely  and 
see  how  they  dart  from  right  to  left  in  the  air,  appar- 
ently without  moving  their  wings. 

Crickets  and  grasshoppers  will  be  associated  together 
on  account  of  their  long,  springing  hind  legs.  The 
first  pair  of  their  wings  are 
called  wing-covers,  because 
they  cover  the  second  pair 
which  are  folded  under  like 
fans.  Their  mouths  are  adapt- 
ed to  biting.  The  mole- 
cricket  does  not  hop,  and 
has  forefeet  shaped  for  bur-  Dragon-fly. 

rowing,  much  like  the  digging-feet  of  the  common  mole. 
In  the  same  group  are  included  the  katydid  and  the 
cockroach. 

The  katydid,  which  utters  its  sleepy  music,  begin- 
ning about  the  middle  of  July,  is  pure  green  in  color, 
like  the  foliage  among  which  it  hides.  Both  it  and 
the  cricket  make  their  shrilling  sound  by  rubbing  to- 
gether the  wing-covers  near  the  place  where  they  join 
the  body.  These  wings  have  heavy,  rough  veins. 

Bugs  are  distinguished  from  other  insects  by  a  pro- 
boscis or  beak,  which  is  fitted  to  pierce  the  bark  of 
plants  or  the  skin  of  animals  from  which  they  derive 
their  nourishment.  Crickets  are  biters  ;  bugs  are  pierc- 
ers. Among  the  true  bugs  may  be  mentioned  the 
aphis,  or  plant-louse ;  the  chinch-bug,  which  is  said  to 
have  cost  the  Illinois  farmers  four  millions  of  dollars 


Il8  LIVING    CREATURES. 

in  a  single  year  by  destroying  their  crops ;  the  lice 
that  afflict  human  beings  and  birds;  the  bed-bug  which 
infests  pigeons,  swallows,  and  human  habitations.  The 
last  two  offensive  creatures  have  no  wings,  and  the 
cockroach  takes  delight  in  destroying  the  larger  insect 
of  the  two. 

The  cicada  (cica'da)  or  harvest  fly,  improperly  called 
locust,  is  a  bug  with  a  piercing  beak  which  does  also 
the  work  of  a  saw.  This  bug  appears 
in  the  latter  part  of  summer,  when  it 
produces  a  familiar  sound  by  forcing 
the  air  into  a  ribbed  or  fluted  ket- 
tle-drum situated  in  its  abdomen.  It 
bores  holes  in  the  twigs  of  trees  to 
lay  its  eggs  in.  It  is  not  particularly 
injurious. 

Another   cicada,   called   the   seven- 
teen-year-locust, appears  in  some  parts 

Cicada-Under   side.       Qf     ^      CQuntry      Qnce      jn      seventeen 

years ;  in  other  places  once  in  thirteen  years.  It  some- 
times does  great  mischief.  So  deep  does  it  bore  into 
the  apple-tree  twigs  that  they  fall  off,  and  much  fruit 
is  lost.  After  the  eggs  are  deposited,  the  parent 
dies  and  never  sees  its  offspring.  The  young,  when 
hatched,  fall  to  the  ground,  and  seem  to  know  enough 
to  burrow  into  the  ground,  where  they  remain  during 
the  many  years  of  their  quiet  babyhood,  living  on  the 
juices  of  roots. 

Beetles  are  sheath-winged  insects.  Their  fore-wings 
are  horny  in  substance,  and  are  used  for  wing-covers 
only,  and  not  for  flight.  Beetles  are  biters  and  chew- 
ers,  having  for  this  purpose  strong  jaws,  working,  of 


FACTS   ABOUT    INSECTS.  lip 

course,  horizontally.      May-bugs,   pinch-bugs,  and  po- 
tato-bugs, are  not  bugs,  but  are  beetles. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  this  order  of  insects 
is  the  tumble-bug,  which  was  held  sacred  by  the  Egyp- 
tians, and  whose  figure  is  inscribed  on  their  monu- 
ments. Our  tumble-bugs  are  nearly  like  it.  The  ball 
they  roll,  often  up  hill,  one  pulling  and  the  other 


Egyptian  Tumble-bugs. 

pushing,  contains  an  egg.  The  little  globe  is  composed 
of  the  droppings  of  horses  and  cattle;  and  this  ma- 
terial seems  to  be  selected  because  it  will  become  heat- 
ed, and  thus  help  the  egg  to  hatch.  A  hole  is  sunken 
in  the  ground  to  receive  the  ball,  and  to  this  nest  the 
struggling  little  heroes  are  trying  to  move  their  rolling 
treasure. 

The  insect  races  are  more  numerous  than  the  tribes 
or  species  of  other  animals.  The  number  of  different 
kinds  of  beetles,  alone,  which  have  been  examined,  is 
about  a  hundred  thousand. 


I2O  LIVING  CREATURES. 


PART  2. 

FLIES  have  each  but  one  pair  of  wings,  and  include 
gnats,  mosquitoes,  horse-flies,  blue-bottle  flies,  and  a 
host  of  others.  The  "blue-bottle"  is  larger  than  the 
house-fly,  and  is  regarded  as  a  pest  and  an  enemy  to  the 
housekeeper  and  the  butcher.  Blue-bottle  flies  are  at- 
tracted by  the  smell  of  meat,  and  manage  to  deposit 
their  eggs  upon  this  food,  though  it  be  covered  with 
wire  netting  or  with  cloth.  The  eggs  hatch  in  about 
twenty-four  hours,  and  the  larvae  are  the  maggots  which 
are  so  detestable.  However,  this  vexatious  visitor  does 
a  great  deal  of  good  by  helping  to  get  rid  of  decaying 
animal  matter. 

How  wonderful  is  the  increase  of  flies  !  Mr.  Keller, 
an  English  naturalist,  has  calculated  that  the  early  fly 
lays  eighty  eggs  at  each  of  four  times  during  the  sea- 
son. The  first  generation  after  her  lay  four  times  ;  the 
second  three  times,  the  third  once;  and  the  offspring 
of  these  again  deposit  eggs,  so  that,  should  all  the 
eggs  hatch  and  produce  flies,  the  original  fly  would  be 
the  parent  and  grand  parent  of  two  millions  of  chil- 
dren. Enemies  and  accidents  must  remove  a  great 
many  of  the  eggs  or  of  the  young  flies. 

Many  insects  seek  to  deposit  their  eggs  upon  the. 
substance  that  furnishes  the  proper  food  for  the  larvae 
which  are  hatched  from  their  eggs.  For  this  reason 
the  blue-bottle  fly  searches  for  meat ;  the  potato-beetle 
finds  the  potato  plant ;  and  the  moth  of  the  tomato- 
worm  deposits  upon  the  tomato  or  the  potato  vine. 
Sometimes  a  mistake  is  made.  A  meat-eating  insect 


FACTS  ABOUT  INSECTS.  121 

has  fastened  its  eggs  to  a  plant  which  has  the  odor  of 
meat,  and  the  young,  when  hatched,  died. 

A  lady  in  Missouri,  who  watches  insects  closely, 
found  that  a  certain  butterfly  which  deposits  its  eggs 
upon  the  wormwood  plant,  when  this  plant  was  scarce, 
selected  a  kind  of  artemisia,  which  in  some  respects 
resembles  the  wormwood.  When  the  larvae  hatched 
they  died  of  starvation,  because  the  artemisia  was  not 
their  proper  food. 

The  tribe  of  insects,  which  includes  bees  and  ants, 
embraces  other  kinds  that  attract  attention.  Never  kill 
a  wasp  until  you  have  seen  the  ingenious  house  she 
has  built,  and  which  she  has  covered  with  sixteen 
thicknesses  of  paper.  Long  before  paper  was  invented, 
and  when  men  were  scratching  their  thoughts  on  bark 
and  chips  and  skins,  this  little  cousin  of  the  bee  and 
the  ant  was  gathering  the  fiber  of  wood,  chewing 
and  spreading  it  out  as  thin  as  a  letter  sheet.  The 
wasp  was  the  first  paper-maker. 

Wait  a  moment  while  you  dip  your  pen  in  ink. 
What  is  good  black  ink  made  of?  One  thing  very 
necessary  to  it  is  an  acid  that  is  found  in  oak-galls. 
This  acid  is  called  gallic  acid.  What  makes  the  oak- 
galls,  or  oak-apples,  as  they  are  commonly  called? 
Toward  the  close  of  the  growing  season,  our  red  oak 
sometimes  bears  a  large  number  of  these  galls.  The 
galls  that  help  to  make  the  best  ink  come  from  China. 

The  gall  is  not  a  natural  fruit  of  the  oak,  but  is  pro- 
duced by  an  insect ;  in  some  cases  by  an  aphis  or 
louse,  in  other  cases  by  a  gall-fly  which  is  cousin  to 
the  wasp.  This  insect  stings  the  oak-twig  to  make  a 
place  for  its  egg.  Around  this  wound  with  an  egg  in 


122  LIVING  CREATURES. 

it,  the  tree  produces  an  apple-like  swelling  in  which 
the  sap  turns  to  an  acid.  The  gall-fly,  therefore,  is  the 
ink-maker,  as  the.  wasp  is  the  paper-maker. 

The  sting  of  the  stinging  insects,  such  as  bees, 
wasps,  and  so  forth,  is  at  the  end  of  the  abdomen. 
The  same  organ  is  used  to  deposit  the  eggs.  The 
wasp  saves  her  sting  after  inflicting  a  wound ;  the  bee 
usually  leaves  her  sting  in  the  wound  and  then  dies, 
because  the  sting  takes  away  a  part  of  her  bowels.  A 
very  intelligent  gentleman  has  found  that  the  wasp 
fails  to  make  a  painful  sting  if,  when  she  begins  to 
pierce  the  skin,  he  holds  his  breath.  This  experiment 
can  easily  be  tried  by  stirring  up  a  wasp's  nest. 

PART  3. 

THE  agricultural  ants  of  Texas  have  been  patiently 
and  carefully  watched  by  Rev.  Mr.  McCook.  These 
ants  clear  away  the  weeds  and  grass  from  a  piece  of 
ground  seven  to  twelve  feet  in  diameter.  Nothing  is 
permitted  to  grow  on  the  cleared  space,  or  disk,  ex- 
cept a  needle-grass  which  is  called  ant-rice.  This 
plant  they  allow  to  grow,  that  they  may  gather  the 
seed  which  it  bears,  and  store  it  away  in  their  under- 
ground galleries  for  winter  use.  On  this  account  they 
are  called  harvesting  ants,  and  they  fulfill  the  words  of 
King  Solomon:  "The  ants  are  a  people  not  strong, 
yet  they  prepare  their  meat  in  summer." 

For  such  very  insignificant  creatures  that  are  only 
about  a  half  inch  long,  the  clearing  of  this  farm  is  a 
tremendous  work.  But  they  work  together,  and  they 
work  with  a  will.  With  their  jaws  they  cut,  pinch, 


FACTS    ABOUT   INSECTS. 


I23 


Agricultural  Ants. 

pull,  twist,  and  tear.  Sometimes  one  climbs  to  the 
top  of  a  weed  and  bends  it  over  by  her  weight,  while 
another  cuts  it  off  near  the  ground.  When  bearing 
their  burdens  along  the  roads  which  they  make,  one 
does  not  turn  out  to  let  his  fellow  pass,  but  walks 
right  over  him.  Among  themselves  they  never  quar- 
rel. They  help  one  another  out  of  difficulties.  They 
work  a  while  and  then  rest.  When  eating  they  some- 
times sit  up  like  squirrels. 

Much  time  is  spent  by  them  in  combing  and  clean- 


124  LIVING    CREATURES. 

ing  themselves.  One  ant  cleans  its  fellow.  It  lifts 
the  fellow's  leg  and  licks  it ;  then  li-cks  the  fellow's 
head  and  neck;  then  the  breast.  Then  the  cleaner 
goes  away — the  fellow  cleansed  "all  this  time,"  says 
Mr.  McCook,  "seeming  pleased  as  a  dog  when  his 
back  is  scratched." 

Ants  talk  by  signs.  When  a  slave-making  ant  is 
hungry,  it  will  pat  the  head  of  its  slave  with  its  feel- 
ers ;  then  the  servant  immediately  supplies  the  wants 
of  its  mistress.  The  sign  for  marching  is  a  tap  on 
the  side.  The  red  ants  will  sometimes  starve  rather 
than  help  themselves.  Some  ants,  therefore,  are  slug- 
gards; and  it  was  not  to  these,  but  to  the  harvesting 
ant  that  Splomon  bid  the  human  sluggard  go. 

Ants  are  very  strong,  and  a  single  one  will  carry  in 
its  jaws  a  burden  twenty-five  times  its  own  weight. 
Ants  have  their  seasons  of  play,  when  they  jump, 
caper,  and  dance  on  their  hind  legs.  They  wrestle, 
and  carry  one  another  in  their  mouths. 


28.    AMONG   THE    FISHES. 

WHEN  one  steps  into  the  water  and  finds  how  easily 
he  sinks,  the  swimming  of  fishes  seems  a  little  mys- 
terious. The  puzzle  arises,  not  when  the  swimmers 
are  in  motion,  for  we  ourselves  can  swim  by  the  proper 
use  of  arms  and  legs.  The  fish  at  rest,  with  motion- 
less fins  and  tail,  as  if  standing  in  the  water — this  is 
what  we  wonder  at. 

The  puzzle  is  far  from  being  a  knotty  one.  The 
boy  is  much  heavier  than  the  amount  of  water  which 


AMONG    THE    DISHES. 


125 


his  body  displaces.  Not  so  with  the  fish.  Its  weight 
is  much  more  nearly  as  light  as  the  water  in  which  it 
swims.  Then  there  is  the  swimming  bladder,  which 
young  fishers  find  within  the  fish,  lying  just  under  the 
backbone.  This  connects  with  the  mouth,  and  is 
filled  with  air  or  emptied,  at  the  will  of  the  fish.  Hence 
it  is  quite  easy  for  the  finny  creature  to  rise  or  drop 
in  the  water,  and  to  stand  still,  with  little  or  no  mo- 
tion of  the  fins. 

A  common  river-chub  must  be  called  up  here  that 
the  names  of  fins  and  other  parts  may  be  learned. 
Behind  the  head  are  the  pectoral  fins  (//),  one  on 


Fig.  11.  Common  Chub. 

each  side.  Still  further  back  and  below  are  the  ventral 
fins(>/),  another  pair.  These  pectoral  and  ventral  fins 
correspond  to  the  arms  and  legs  of  human  creatures,  or 
to  the  fore  and  hind  legs  of  quadrupeds.  On  the  back 
is  the  dorsal  fin  (df\  Some  fishes  have  two  dorsal 
fins.  On  the  under  side  near  the  tail  hangs  the  anal 
fin  (af).  Then  comes  the  tail,  or  caudal  fin  (<:/). 

The  pectoral  and  ventral  fins  enable  the  fish  to  bal- 
ance itself  so  as  not  to  turn  over  on  its  side.  The 
dorsal  and  anal  fins  keep  it  in  a  straight  line  when  it 
moves,  while  the  tail  fin  is  the  oar  or  scull,  which 
works  from  side  to  side,  and  makes  the  fish  go.  The 


or  THK 

UNIVERSITY 


126 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


eye  has  no  lid.  The  nostrils  are  a  little  in  front  of  the 
eyes.  The  ears' — where  are  they?  Fishes  hear,  be- 
cause gold-fishes  kept  in  ponds  are  trained  to  come  to 
their  meals  at  the  ringing  of  a  little  bell. 

Some  fishes  make  noises,  evidently  for  the  purpose 
of  calling  their  mates.  The  cat-fish  utters  a  gentle, 
humming  sound,  perhaps  to  call  its  young;  for  it 
broods  its  young  as  a  hen  broods  her  chickens.  Fish 


Bull-head. 


have  organs  for  hearing,  and  these  are  near  the  back 
of  the  head.  They  are  covered — not  open;  and  the 
hearing  nerve  connects  with  the  air-bladder,  as  if  to 
carry  sound  through  the  body.  The  sense  of  touch  is 
in  the  lips.  Bull-heads  and  cat-fish  have  Jong  barbels 
hanging  from  the  sides  of  their  mouths.  Quite,  likely 
these  are  feelers  like  the  whiskers  of  a  cat.  From 
this  resemblance  the  cat-fish  gets  its  name. 

On  the  side  of  the  head  is  the  gill  cover  (gc}. 
You  may  watch  its  motion  in  the  gold-fish  or  the  min- 
now. The  gills  within  are  so  arranged  as  to  bring  the 
cold  red  blood  of  the  fish  in  contact  with  the  air 
which  is  mixed  in  the  water.  The  water  passes  in 
at  the  mouth,  over  the  gills,  and  out  under  the  gill 


AMONG    THE    FISHES.  12J 

covers.  This  is  the  way  in  which  the  fish  breathes. 
Some  kinds  of  fish  have  teeth  in  the  jaws,  while  oth- 
ers are  toothless.  Their  food  is  mostly  worms,  in- 
sects, and  other  fish;  though  some,  like  the  pond- 
carp,  feed  on  vegetable  matter.  The  mode  of  eating 
is  to  swallow  the  food  whole;  and  this  explains  the 
reason  why  fish  may  be  caught  with  a  hook.  No  fish 
would  be  apt  to  swallow  a  hook  after  chewing  it. 


Sucker. 

The  fish  impresses  us  as  a  bony  animal,  indeed  very 
bony.  It  has  a  backbone,  and  its  skeleton  is  inside 
of  its  soft  parts  instead  of  outside,  as  is  the  case  with 
insects.  Nothing  is  easier  than  to  examine  the  skel- 
eton of  a  fish  when  it  lies  on  the  dinner-plate. 

PART  2. 

THE  scientific  and  sporting  books  have  a  way  of 
speaking  slightingly  of  certain  fishes  as  "boys'  fish." 
Thus  they  put  aside  the  common  sucker  as  "one  of 
the  numerous  tribe  of  boys'  fish  which  may  be  found 
on  every  urchin's  string."  Here  is  a  list  of  the  boys' 
fish :  '  Minnows,  chubs,  roach,  dace,  shiners,  and  suck- 


I2&  LIVING  CREATURES. 

ers.  These  are  popular  with  boys,  and  with  girls,  too, 
because  they  may  be  found  in  small  streams  and  ponds, 
where  there  is  slight  danger  of  being  drowned.  They 
bite  readily,  and  when  caught,  are  easily  handled,  be- 
cause they  have  no 
teeth  in  the  mouth, 
and  their  fins  are  soft. 
The  boys'  list,  it 
must  be  confessed, 
are  all  poor  eating. 
Thoreau  says,  "the 
chub  is  a  soft  fish  ;  it 

tastes  like  a  piece  of  brown  paper  salted."  Without 
doubt  this  is  the  solemn  truth ;  but  who  can  make  a 
boy  believe  it,  particularly  if  he  has  himself  caught  a 
chub  ?  The  first  fish  I  ever  caught  was  a  beautiful  sil- 
ver shiner  about  six  inches  long.  All  these  small,  soft 
fish  seem  to  have  bones  mixed  up  with  their  flesh  as  if 
to  stiffen  their  sides,  like  corsets.  When  my  little 
shiner  was  cooked  and  on  my  plate,  I  found  it  terribly 
full  of  bones.  Nevertheless,  no  one  could  convince  me 
that  it  was  not  the  most  delicious  morsel  in  the  world. 
When  the  young  fisherman  or  fisherwoman  finds  a 
sunfish  (pumpkin  seed)  taken  by  the  hook,  then  the 
boys'  list  is  left  behind,  and  something  like  the  "game 
fish"  is  reached.  A  game  fish  is  one  which  makes  good 
eating,  bites  vigorously,  and,  when  once  hooked,  resists 
so  earnestly  as  to  make  the  catching  exciting.  The  lit- 
tle, nearly  round  sunfish  is  one  of  a  group  of  cousins 
which  includes  the  yellow  perch,  the  log-perch  or  rock- 
perch,  and  all  other  perches ;  the  yellow  bass,  the  white 
bass,  the  black  bass,  the  striped  bass  of  the  se£,  and 


AMONG    THE    FISHES. 


I29 


Sunflsh. 


the  delicious  crappie  of  the  Mississippi  River.  You 
will  notice  that  all  these  fishes  have  on  the  back,  in 
front  of  the  usual  dorsal  fin,  a  first  dorsal  fin  composed 
of  very  sharp  spines.  You  will  be  more  impressed 
with  the  sharpness  of 
these  fins  when  you 
come  to  take  a  bold, 
wriggling,  spiny  fish  off 
your  hook.  Look  out 
for  the  spines ! 

Another  company  of 
cousins  is  the  salmon 
family.  They  have 
soft  fins  but  fierce  teeth.  The  great  salmon,  which  run 
up  the  large  rivers  from  the  sea  to  deposit  their  eggs  in 
small  streams  so  that  the  young  fry  may  be  far  away 
from  their  enemies — these  are  called  the  monarchs 
among  all  game  fish.  No  cat  can  climb  a  tree  more 
nimbly  than  a  salmon  will  shoot  up  the  rapids,  or  leap 
up  a  rushing  fall  of  water.  With  the  salmon  belong 
the  lake  trout,  the  white  fish  of  the  Great  Lakes,  and 
the  exquisite  brook,  or  speckled  trout.  These  fish  are 
without  the  large  scales  which  belong  to  most  fresh- 
water fish. 

The  little  bull-head  with  its  barbels  hanging  from  its 
lips,  and  with  a  head  nearly  as  large  as  the  remainder 
of  its  body,  is  a  near  relative  of  the  different  kinds  of 
cat-fishes  which  inhabit  rivers,  lakes,  and  sea.  The  cat- 
fish of  the  Mississippi  often  weighs  a  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds. 

The  cat-fish  of  Central  Europe  weighs  as  high  as  four 
hundred  pounds.  Cat-fish  are  all  hungry,  barbarous,  and 

L.  C.-9. 


I3O  LIVING    CREATURES, 

cruel ;  and  scarcely  any  fish  escapes  their  jaws,  except 
the  spiny  perch  family.  Of  the  European  cat,  great 
fish  stories  are  told.  One  was  said  to  have  swallowed 
a  woman  with  a  ring  and  a  purse  of  gold.  An  appar- 
ently true  account,  however,  states  that  on  the  3d  of 
July,  1700,  a  cat-fish  was  caught  at  Thorn,  Prussia,  in 
the  stomach  of  which  a  small  child  was  found.  But 


California  Flying-fish. 

none  of  these  stories  need  alarm  the  young  fisher  of 
bull-head  or  pout. 

In  mudholes  and  ponds  in  the  country,  are  some- 
times seen  worms  which  look  like  animated  horse-hairs. 
Country  boys  are  sometimes  told  that  these  wriggling 
swimmers  actually  come  from  horse  hairs  accident- 


AMONG   THE    FISHES.  13! 

ally  dropped  in  the  water.  A  still  more  foolish  story 
is  that  eels  grow  from  hair-worms.  The  truth  is  that 
the  hair-worm  comes  from  an  egg,  like  other  worms, 
and  the  eel  is  a  real  fish.  A  strange  sort  of  fish,  un- 
doubtedly. It  has  the  head  of  a  fish,  though  without 
gill  covers,*  and  it  has  also 'a  pectoral  fin.  Its  dorsal 
and  anal  fins  run  along  nearly  one  third  of  the  body. 
Eels  are  found  most  abundantly  in  those  waters  which 
communicate  with  the  sea. 

The  flying-fish  and  the  stickleback  must  have  a  word. 
The  former,  to  escape  its  pursuing  enemy,  with  a 
spring  of  its  tail,  leaps  into  the  air.  Its  pectoral  fins, 
you  observe,  are  developed  something  like  wings.  The 
California  flyer  ' '  flies  for  a  distance  sometimes  of  nearly 
a  quarter  of  a  mile,  usually  not  rising  more  than  four 
feet.  When  on  the  wing  it  resembles  a  large  dragon- 

fly." 

The  little  sticklebacks  are  found  in  some  rivers  on 
the  Atlantic  coast.     The  black  bass  is 
one  of  the  few  fishes  that  take  any  care 
of  their  young.      It  builds  a  saucer-like 

*.  Stickleback. 

nest  on  the  bottom,  where  the  eggs 
are  deposited,  and  where,  when  hatched,  the  fry  are 
carefully  protected.  But  the  stickleback  builds  a  nest 
somewhat  like  that  of  a  bird.  The  male  gathers  weeds 
and  erects  a  barrel-shaped  house.  He  secretes  a  mar- 
velous kind  of  mucous  in  his  body,  which,  as  soon  as  it 
comes  in  contact  with  the  water,  grows  firm  and  hard. 
With  this  he  cements  his  nest.  Sticklebacks,  on  ac- 
count of  this  interesting  architecture,  are  sometimes 
confined  in  aquariums.  Their  nests  in  the  water  are 
often  the  subjects  of  pleasant  pictures. 


132  LIVING    CREATURES. 


29.    ROMAN    FISH    FONDS. 

EELS  are  to  the  sea  what  hawks  and  owls  are  to  the 
air.  They  are  the  terror  of  most  other  fish,  and  they 
attack  their  prey  by  day  aiid  by  night.  Hidden  in  the 
mud  or  beneath  some  overhanging  rock,  they  dart  out 
with  open  mouths  and  with  great  fury.  The  murry  eel 
abounds  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  in  nearly 
all  warm  seas.  It  does  not  hesitate,  when  oppor- 
tunity offers,  to  satisfy  its  appetite  by  attacking  human 
flesh.  This  fact  shows  that  the  story  of  Pollio,  which 
is  here  given  nearly  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Houghton,  is 
quite  probable. 

Red  mullet  and  murries  seem  to  have  been  special 
favorites  with  the  old  Romans  like  Hortensius,  "those 
blessed  fish-pond  gentlemen,"  of  whom  Cicero  speaks 
with  contempt.  The  murry  was  highly  esteemed  for 
the  delicacy  of  its  flesh,  and  for  its  fine  flavor.  These 
murries  would  become  so  tame  that  they  would  come 
at  their  master's  call,  and  take  food  from  his  hand. 
Hortensius  actually  shed  bitter  tears  when  a  favorite 
murry  died  in  his  ponds. 

Another  celebrated  Roman,  named  Crassus,  had  an 
equally  tender  heart.  He  could  not  stop  his  tears  at 
the  death  of  his  fishy  darling.  But  he  had  a  ready 
wit  as  well  as  a  soft  heart.  When  his  brother-senator, 
Domitius,  called  ''  Brazen-head, "  twitted  him  in  the 
Senate  for  having  cried  as  much  at  the  death  of  an  eel 
as  if  he  had  lost  a  daughter,  Crassus  replied  that  it 
was  more  than  old  Brazen-head  had  done  for  any  one 
of  his  deceased  wives ! 


ROMAN    FISH    PONDS.  13$ 

Varro,  a  Roman  writer,  says:  "A  friend  of  mine, 
Hortensius  by  name,  had  fish  ponds  at  Bauli,  con- 
structed at  great  cost.  I  have  often  been  with  him  at 
his  residence,  and  I  know  that,  instead  of  eating  his 
own  fish,  he  would  send  to  Puteoli  and  buy  fish.  He 
used  to  feed  the  fish  with  his  own  hands,  and  would 
show  a  great  deal  more  anxiety,  if  his  mullets  were 
hungry,  than  I  showed  when  my  asses  wanted  feed- 
ing. I  am  content  with  one  slave  to  feed  my  asses. 
Hortensius  employs  a  host  of  fishermen  who  are  con- 


common  Eel. 


tinually  sent  out  to  catch  heaps  of  little  fish  for  big 
ones  to  eat.  He  felt  more  anxiety  about  a  sick  fish 
than  about  a  sick  slave." 

Hurries  are  the  fish  which,  according  to  Pliny  and 
others,  a  certain  Roman  knight  named  Pollio  kept. 
Pollio  was  a  friend  of  the  Emperor  Augustus.  He 
used  to  feed  his  fish  with  human  flesh.  One  reason 
for  this  terrible  practice  was  that  he  was  unfortunate 
with  his  slaves.  When  they  were  waiting  on  his  table 
they  were  careless  or  clumsy,  breaking  dishes,  or  up- 
setting decanters  and  other  tableware.  If  a  servant  of 
Pollio  was  so  unfortunate  as  to  break  a  valuable  piece 
of  glass  or  crockery,  he  would  have  to  pay  the  pen- 


134  LIVING   CREATURES, 

alty,   then  and  there,   by  being  thrown  into  the  fish- 
pond.    This  was  the  order: 

Whoever  breaks  the  glass  or  dishes, 
That  man  becomes  the  food  of  fishes. 

Well,  on  one  occasion  the  Emperor  Augustus  came 
to  sup  with  Pollio,  when  he  was,  of  course,  richly  en- 
tertained. The  best  dishes,  the  finest  vases,  the  best 
wine  appeared  on  the  table.  As  might  be  expected 
in  the  presence  of  an  emperor,  the  servants  behaved 
with  propriety,  and  no  accident  at  first  happened. 

The  fish  went  off  swimmingly,  and  so  did  the  rest 
of  the  dinner;  but  not  so  the  dessert.  An  unlucky 
servant  made  a  slip  and  broke  a  crystal  goblet ;  where- 
upon his  master  ordered  the  offender  to  be  at  once  de- 
livered over  to  the  pet  murries,  in  the  very  presence 
of  the  emperor. 

The  man  knew  his  doom;  so  he  fell  at  Augustus' 
feet  and  begged  him  to  intercede  in  his  behalf  with 
his  master.  He  did  not  fear  to  die — it  was  not  al- 
together that ;  but  he  thought  it  hard  that  a  man, 
though  a  slave,  should  be  gobbled  up  or  nibbled  to 
pieces  by  fish. 

But  Pollio  would  not  listen  even  to  the  emperor; 
whereupon  Augustus  very  properly  took  the  matter 
into  his  own  hands.  He  pardoned  the  slave  and  set 
him  at  liberty ;  ordered  all  Pollio's  glass  and  china  to 
be  smashed,  and  his  fish  ponds  to  be  filled  up.  I 
suppose  the  emperor  made  it  up  with  Pollio  soon 
after  this  affair.  At  any  rate,  it  is  stated  that  when 
Pollio  died,  he  left  a  large  part  of  his  property  to 
Augustus,  . 


135 


3O.    "  I  GO  A  FISHING. 

So  said  Simon  Peter.  And  the  seven  other  disciples 
said,  "We  also  go  with  thee."  Some  of  these  disci- 
ples, when  Jesus  first  met  them,  had  been  fishing,  and 
were  then  mending  their  nets.  They  left  their  nets  and 
boats  to  follow  him,  but  it  seems  that  they  occasionally 
repaired  to  the  Sea  of  Galilee  to  go  a  fishing,  for  the 
purpose  of  getting  necessary  food  and  for  recreation 
or  sport. 

If  the  fish  in  this  sea  were  of  the  same  varieties  that 
abound  there  now,  we  may  know  something  about 
those  which  Simon  Peter  and  his  friends  caught.  Dr. 
Tristam,  visiting  Palestine  in  1863,  collected  from  the 
Sea  of  Galilee  fifteen  species  of  fishes.  One  kind  was 
nearly  like  our  bream  or  shiner,  only  much  larger. 
Other  species  resembled  the  cat-fish  in  having  barbels 
hanging  from  a  large  snout,  but  differed  from  the  cat- 
fish in  being  clothed  with  large  scales.  Another  was  a 
species  of  eel,  without  scales,  and  of  a  black  color. 

The  fish  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee  are  now,  as  they  were 
eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  exceedingly  abundant. 
In  ancient  times  they  were  caught  with  a  net ;  probably 
never  with  a  hook.  Dr.  Tristam  witnessed  the  present 
method  of  taking  them.  "An  old  Arab  sat  on  a  long 
cliff  and  threw  poisoned  bread  crumbs  as  far  as  he  could 
reach;  which  the  fish  seized,  and  turning  over  dead, 
were  washed  ashore  and  collected  for  market." 

The  shoals  presented  a  marvelous  sight,  for  many  hun- 
dred yards  black  with  the  masses  of  fish,  the  back  fins 
projecting  out  of  the  water  as  thickly  as  they  could  be 


136  LIVING    CREATURES. 

crowded.  It  is  no  wonder,  then,  that  in  ancient  times 
the  net  broke  on  account  of  the  multitude  of  fishes. 
When  the  net  was  drawn  ashore,  the  fish  were  sorted. 
They  gathered  the  good  into  vessels,  but  cast  the  bad 
away.  We  know  pretty  well  what  the  "bad"  were; 
they  were  the  eel-like  fish,  which  were  forbidden  by 
the  Jewish  law  to  be  used  as  food,  because  they  had 
no  scales.  (Lev.  xi:io). 

It  is  likely  that  the  hook  is  older  than  the  net. 
There  are  evidences  that  savages,  long  before  history 
was  written,  used  fish-hooks  made  from  the  bones  of 
animals,  and  even  from  the  jaw-bone  of  the  human 
head.  From  the  remote  ages  until  now,  the  spear  has 
been  used  in  clear  waters  for  killing  fish.  The  ancient 
Egyptians  made  hooks  of  bronze,  and  our  Saxon  an- 
cestors made  hooks  from  flints.  The  ancient  Scythians 
practiced  a  droll  method  of  catching  the  great  cat-fish 
in  the  river  Danube.  The  fisherman  drove  a  pair  of 
oxen  to  a  convenient  point  on  the  river  bank  and  set 
them  at  feeding. 

He  laid  the  yoke  down  near  the  edge  of  the  water, 
fastening  a  rope  to  it.  To  the  other  end  of  the  rope  a 
strong  hook  was  attached,  baited  with  liver  and  weight- 
ed with  a  sufficiently  heavy  sinker.  The  hook  was 
then  cast  into  the. middle  of  the  stream.  By  and  by  a 
huge  fish  finds  the  bull's  meat,  which  he  dearly  loves, 
opens  his  immense  jaws,  swallows  the  morsel  and  starts 
off  on  his  course  as  many  another  poor  glutton  of  a 
fish  has  done. 

The  fisherman  observes  this  performance  with  de- 
light; jumps  to  his  feet;  yokes  his  oxen,  and  then 
there  is  a  great  contest  between  the  strength  of  two 


I    GO    A    FISHING. 


137 


oxen  and  one  immensely  powerful  fish.     The  oxen,  of 
course,  prevail,  and  the  monster  is  drawn  ashore. 

In  these  days,  the  fisherman  is  assisted  by  a  multi- 
tude of  devices.  From  the  net  or  the  seine  to  the  pin- 
hook  of  the  child,  there  are  hooks  of  all  sizes  and  pat- 


Speckled  Trout. 

terns ;  lines  of  linen  and  lines  of  silk;  no  end  of  snells, 
bobs,  flies,  and  jugs  for  cat-fishing;  poles  of  bamboo 
and  costly  woods,  reels  and  scoop-nets.  Game  fish 
are  taken  with  worms,  minnows,  and  flies  natural  and 
artificial'.  But  successful  fishing  is  in  the  skill  of  the 
fisher  as  much  as  in  the  fine  tackle  he  uses.  To  catch 


138  LIVING    CREATURES. 

a  brook-trout  is  "to  cast  a  fly  gracefully,  so  that  it  will 
fall  in  the  right  place  like  a  snow-flake  or  a  winged  in- 
sect," and  when  he  is  hooked,  to  land  him. 

Says  the  good  Isaak  Walton,  "  God  never  did  make 
a  more  calm,  quiet,  innocent  recreation  than  angling." 
We  all  need,  like  Simon  Peter,  to  go  a  fishing — old 
and  young,  girls  and  boys.  Another  ' '  brother  of  the 
angle  "  says,  ' '  Sometimes  the  parents  take  the  children 
a  fishing.  Whenever  they  do,  they  should  supply 
them  with  a  light  bamboo  rod,  and  attach  at  a  joint 
one  third  from  the  top  end  a  fine  silk  or  linen  line; 
then  affix  a  float  according  to  the  depth  of  the  water, 
so  that  the  bait  will  sink  within  six  inches  of  the  bot- 
tom, and  a  foot  above  the  hook  fasten  to  the  line  from 
one  to  three  split  shot. 

"Let  the  hook  be  of  the  minnow  size,  and  let  the 
bait,  dug  the  day  previous  and  laid  in  moss  or  grass 
over  night,  merely  cover  the  point  of  the  hook.  Never 
bait  with  the  head  of  a  worm ;  always  break  that  off 
and  throw  it  in  the  water." 

"  I  love  to  see  the  man  of  care 

Take  pleasure  in  a  toy ; 
I  love  to  see  him  row  or  ride, 

And  tread  the  grass  with  joy, 
Or  throw  the  circling  salmon  fly 
.  As  lusty  as  a  boy. 

"  The  road  of  life  is  hard  enough, 

Bestrewn  with  slag  and  thorn ; 
I  would  not  mock  the  simplest  joy 

That  makes  it  less  forlorn, 
But  fill  its  evening  path  with  flowers 

As  fresh  as  those  of  morn." 


ANOTHER    VIEW    OF    FISHING. 


139 


31.    ANOTHER    VIEW    OF    FISHING. 

THERE  are  some  people  who  conscientiously  think 
that  fishing  is  a  cruel  amusement.  While  we  should 
never,  needlessly,  inflict  pain  upon  any  living  creature, 
it  is  well  to  reflect  that  the  world  of  fish  is  any  thing 
but  a  paradise  of  peace.  It  is  a  scene  of  constant 
war  and  fighting.  Fish  have  no  sympathy  or  tender- 
ness. Big  fish  eat  little  fish  when  they  can  catch 
them.  Great  fish  enter  into  combats,  one  with  an- 


Black  Bass. 

other,  like  fierce  tigers.  Even  pet  fish  in  the  aqua- 
rium occasionally  turn  on  their  companions  and  de- 
vour them. 

It  is  well,  also,  to  know  that  all  cold-blooded  ani- 
mals have  no  very  keen  sense  of  pain,  and  that  the 
water-breathing  fish,  jerked  into  the  air,  dies  by  air- 
drowning  as  easily  as  an  air-breathing  animal  dies  by 
water-drowning.  There  are  some  who  think  fishing 
an  idle  and  foolish  amusement.  Such  .will  take  com- 
fort from  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  a  distinguished  English 


I4O  LIVING  CREATURES. 

writer  of  a  .hundred  years  ago,  who  describes  fishing 
as  ' '  a  stick  and  a  string  with  a  fool  at  one  end  and  a 
worm  at  the  other. "  For  the  comfort  of  such  the 
verses  of  Dr.  Walcott  may  be  quoted,  who  thus  ad- 
dresses the  innocent  fish,  without  hooking  him : 

"  O  harmless  tenant  of  the  flood, 
I  do  not  wish  to  spill  thy  blood ; 

For  nature  unto  thee 
Perchance  has  given  a  tender  wife, 
And  children  dear,  to  charm  thy  life, 

As  she  hath  done  to  me. 

"Enjoy  thy  stream,  O  harmless  fish, 
And  when  an  angler,  for  his  dish, 

Through  gluttony's  vile  sin 
Attempts — a  wretch — to  pull  thee  o^tt, 
God  give  thee  strength,  O  gentle  trout, 

To  pull  the  rascal  in!" 


32.    TOADS    AND    FROGS. 

THE  toad,  named  Bufo,  is  a  droll,  humorous,  wag- 
gish fellow.  He  has  no  visible  means  of  defense. 
He  can  not  bite,  for  he  has  no  teeth.  He  can  not 
scratch,  for  he  has  no  claws.  Yet  he  comes  out  at 
night-fall,  and  looks  you  in  the  eye  as  if  he  were  con- 
scious of  his  safety.  It  is  observed  that  neither  the 
cat  nor  the  dog  will  touch  him.  This  is  because  from 
some  glands  behind  his  head,  he  sends  forth  a  fluid 
which  is  biting  and  offensive,  though  not  poisonous. 

There  is  a  real  sense  of  fun  in  Bufo.      He  will  play 


TOADS    AND    FROGS. 


141 


Common  Toad. 


with  sticks,  throwing  them  about.  He  snaps  in  fire- 
flies with  his  darting  tongue,  and  he  has  been  known 
to  appropriate  lighted  matches  in  the  same  way.  He 
fills  himself  with  stinging  bees,  and  seems  to  regard 
the  performance  with  great  satisfaction.  He  has  been 
tamed,  and  taught  to  come  at  the  call  of  his  name. 
A  toad  was  once  kept  as  a  pet  for  thirty-six  years, 
and  knew  all  his  friends. 

Some  slight  differences  are  noted  between  Bufo  and 
his  cousin  Rana,  the  bull-frog.  Bufo  is  covered  with 
warts,  Rana  has  a*  smooth  skin ;  he  also  has  teeth  on 
his  upper  jaw.  Each  has  four  fingers  in  front  and  five 
toes  behind.  The  tongue  in  both  is  fastened  at  the 
front  of  the  jaw,  and  is  free  behind ;  so  that  it  can  roll 


142 


LIVING    CREATURES, 


Tree-toad. 


out   and   catch  an  insect   by  the  aid  of  a  sticky  gum 
which  it  carries,  and  then  turn  back  with  its  prize,  so 

quickly  as  scarcely  to 
be  seen. 

Of  frogs,  the  tree- 
frog,  the  pond-frog, 
and  the  bull-frog  are 
most  familiar.  The  lit- 
tle tree-frog,  or  tree- 
toad,  is  hard  to  find, 
because  his  color  is  so 
much  like  the  bark  and 
foliage  of  the  tree.  His 
toes  are  remarkable. 
They  end  in  cups  or 
suckers,  by  which  the  little  climber  is  able  to  cleave 
to  the  tree.  Tree-toads  are  good  weather  prophets, 
and  in  Germany  are  sometimes  used  for  barometers. 

This  instrument  is,  mainly,  a  glass  tube,  in  which 
mercury  rises  and  falls  according  to  the  pressure  of 
the  atmosphere.  In  a  similar  way  a  long  or  high  bot- 
tle is  furnished  with  a  very  small  ladder.  Tree-toad 
is  put  in  the  bottle,  and  climbs  up  or  down  the  ladder 
according  to  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere. 

The  bull-frog  lives  in  quiet  waters  'where,  in  early 
summer,  he  tunes  his  instrument — a  violoncello,  per- 
haps. You  may  hear  him  snapping  the  strings,  and 
then  rolling  out  his  roaring  bass  notes.  Some  people 
detect  in  his  notes  the  words,  "  Bloody  thunder  !  bloody 
thunder !  "  The  hind  legs  of  Rana  are  regarded  as 
very  delicate  food. 

Toads  and  frogs,   when    stripped  of  skin  and  flesh, 


TOADS    AND    FROGS. 


143 


show  a  skeleton  much  like  ours.  But  they  have  no 
ribs.  Our  ribs  act  in  such  a  way  as  to  fill  our  lungs, 
and  enable  us  to  breathe.  Frogs  and  toads  breathe 
in  a  different  manner.  They  take  a  mouthful  of  air, 
then  close  the  mouth  and  nostrils,  and  swallow  the 
air.  They  breathe  partly  through  the  skin.  The  way 
to  smother  a  man  is  to  stop  his  mouth  and  nose.  The 


Bull-frog. 

way  to  smother  a  frog  is  to  keep  his  mouth  and  nose 
open.  A  frog,  though,  has  been  known  to  live  forty 
days  by  breathing  through  his  skin,  after  his  lungs  had 
been  taken  out. 

What  a  marvelous  nursery  and  cradle  is  the  water 
in  which  are  born  and  reared  so  many  tender  things, 
some  of  which  never  again  return  to  this  home  of 
their  babyhood,  when  once  set  free  in  the  air  or  on 


144 


LIVING  CREATURES. 


the  ground  !  Here  the  toads  and  frogs  pass  through 
some  wonderful  changes  from  the  egg  to  the  complete 
form.  These  changes  are  easily  seen  and  watched  in 
the  aquarium. 

The  eggs,  or  spawn,  are  laid  in  a  kind  of  jelly,  which 
fastens  them  to  a  stick  or  plant  in  or  very  near  the 
water  (i).  After  about  a  month  the  eggs  hatch,  when 


Fig.  12.  Eggs,  Tadpoles,  and  Frogs. 

there  appear  very  small  tadpoles,  with  head  and  tail, 
and  a  pair  of  holders  behind  the  mouth  (2).  Outside 
gills  grow,  and  become  large,  like  plumes  (3).  You 
remember  for  what  purpose  are  gills  in  the  clam  and 
oyster.  Then  the  gills  disappear  (4 — back  view  5). 
Hind  legs  put  forth  (6).  Fore  legs  follow  (7).  As  the 
legs  grow,  the  tail  shrinks  away  (8).  The  tail  goes, 
and  the  perfect  little  frog  comes  (9). 

All  this  time  changes  have  been  going  on  within  the 
tadpole.      When  the  outside  gills  passed  away,  inside 


SNAKES.  145 

gills,  like  those  of  the  fish,  came.  As  these  disap- 
peared, lungs  took  their  place.  When  all  the  changes 
are  accomplished,  the  little  frogs  are  ready,  with  the 
first  warm  rain,  to  start  out  and  try  the  land.  Some- 
times they  hop  a  long  distance  from  their  watery  nurs- 
ery, and  people  who  know  nothing  of  their  history, 
think  they  have  rained  down. 

During  winter,  frogs  lie  buried  in  the  mud-bottom 
of  a  pond.  Toads  hide  themselves  in  similar  places, 
or  under  stones.  All  have  musical  voices,  which  re- 
peated attention  will  enable  one  to  distinguish,  so  as  to 
tell  which  is  that  of  the  toad,  which  is  the  frog's,  and 
which  is  the  tree-toad's.  The  bull-frog's  double  bass 
no  one  can  mistake.  At  the  close  of  winter  and  frost, 
the  trilling  notes  from  the  ponds  are  a  pleasant  an- 
nouncement of  spring. 


33.    SNAKES, 

THE  dread  of  snakes  is  common  to  many  animals, 
to  monkeys  and  to  human  beings.  Children,  and 
monkeys  raised  in  cages,  on  the  first  sight  of  snakes 
shrink  from  them  with  terror.  Pigs  do  not  mind  them. 
This  dread  comes  partly  from  ignorance  about  snakes, 
and  partly  from  the  fact  that  some  snakes  inflict  a 
deadly  wound.  Pigs  are  not  injured  by  poisonous 
reptiles. 

If  we  knew  more  about  these  creatures  they  would 
not  excite  our  fears  so  much.  Some  people  are  almost 

L.  C.— 10. 


146 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


as  badly  frightened  by  mice  and  beetles,  as  by  snakes. 
One  peculiarity  of  these  creepers,  which  makes  them 
dreadful,  is  that  they  move  so  obscurely  and  silently  in 
the  grass.  Then  they  are  cold-blooded  like  toads,  and 
the  touch  of  them  is  not  agreeable.  On  the  other 
hand,  snakes  are  useful,  as  their  bill  of  fare  shows,  and 
they  are  truly  beautiful.  The  scaly,  many-colored,  and 


Rattlesnake. 


glistening  skin  of  some  of  them  is  as  handsome  as  the 
feathered  garb  of  beautiful  birds. 

The  movements  of  snakes  are  graceful.  The  back- 
bone of  some  snakes  is  composed  of  more  than  three 
hundred  parts ;  and  to  each  of  these  parts  is  attached  a 
pair  of  ribs.  How  quickly  and  easily  it  turns  and  coils 


SNAKES.  147 

its  supple  body  !  How  mighty  is  the  coil  of  the  python 
that  will  kill  a  deer ! 

The  snake  has  no  feet,  as  feet  are  commonly  under- 
stood. It  moves  by  its  backbone  and  by  its  ribs.  On 
the  under  side  of  the  body  are  scales,  one  of  which  is 
joined  to  each  pair  of  ribs.  The  pairs  of  ribs  move 
forward  and  backward,  and  the  scales  attached  to  them 
catch  on  the  rough  ground  with  each  motion.  This 
operation  gives  the  animal  its  gliding  gait.  The  snake 
is  adapted  to  swimming,  and  to  climbing  trees,  but  it 
would  make  bad  work  trying  to  crawl  on  glass. 

The  bones  in  the  head  of  the  snake  are  joined  by 
elastic  ligaments,  so  that  it  is  able  to  swallow  animals 
much  larger  than  its  head  appears  to  be.  Snakes 
never  chew  their  food,  but  swallow  it  whole.  Their 
eyes  have  no  eyelids.  Their  hearing  is  dull.  All 
snakes  are  as  "deaf  as  an  adder."  The  forked  tongue 
is  the  feeler — nothing  else.  There  is  no  harm  in  it. 
The  teeth  are  simply  for  holding  the  prey;  not  for 
chewing.  There  is  no  poison  in  them,  and  their  bite 
is  harmless. 

In  temperate  climates,  snakes  lie  torpid  during  the 
winter.  When  active,  they,  like  all  other  animals,  are 
seeking  for  food.  The  common  ones  are  after  insects, 
frogs,  mice,  rabbits,  fish,  and  birds.  They  have  no 
power  to  charm  animals.  Snakes  either  catch  their 
prey  and  immediately  swallow  it,  or  they  wind  their 
coils  about  it,  as  do  black-snakes  and  boa-constrictors; 
or  they  thrust  poison  fangs  into  it,  and  thus  cause  its 
death.  No  snake,  not  even  the  python  or  the  boa, 
seeks  human  flesh  for  food.  Neither  threaten  nor  harm 
a  snake,  and,  as  a  rule,  it  will  let  you  alone. 


148 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


In  our  country  there  are  three,  and  only  three  kinds 
of  snakes  that  inflict  injury  on  human  beings.  These 
are  the  snakes  that  have  poisonous  fangs.  The  fangs 
are  entirely  distinct  from  the  small  holding-teeth.  They 
turn  back  upon  the  upper  jaw,  when  not  in  use ;  and 
are  thrust  forward,  when  the  snake  is  about  to  strike. 
A  sac  at  the  root  of  the  fang  contains  the  poison. 


Copperhead. 

which  is  sent  down  a  groove  or  canal  in  the  fang  and 
thrown  into  the  wound,  at  the  will  of  the  snake. 
Poisonous  serpents  sometimes  bite  without  using  the 
poison. 

The  three  kinds  of  venomous  snakes  are  the  rattle- 
snake, the  copperhead,  and  the  water-moccasin  of  the 
South.  These  have  the  poison  fangs.  No  others  have 


SNAKES.  149 

them.  You  may  handle  grass  snakes,  milk  snakes, 
spreading  adders  and  racers,  and  none  of  them  can  do 
you  serious  harm.  The  bite  of  most  of  them  is  scarcely 
more  than  the  prick  of  a  pin-point. 

In  some  Northern  and  Southern  states  the  rattlesnake 
is  black,  and  is  called  massasauga.    Elsewhere  it  is  usu- 


Moccasin. 


ally  more  or  less  distinctly  spotted.  In  the  Southern 
States  it  is  adorned  by  diamond-shaped  spots,  and  is 
called  the  diamond  rattler.  The  Oregon  rattlesnake  has 
round  spots ;  while  that  of  many  states  is  called  the 
banded  rattlesnake. 

The  number  of  rattles  on  the  tail  indicates  nothing  in 
regard  to  the  age  of  the  animal.     The  use  of  the  rattle 


LIVING    CREATURES. 

has  been  a  good  deal  of  a  puzzle.  The  copperhead  re- 
sides in  a  more  southern  latitude.  It  has  a  dark  brown 
head,  and  reddish  spots  on  its  body.  I  have  several 
times  met  it,  and  have  killed  it,  but  never  saw  it  show 
a  very  fighting  disposition.  The  water-moccasin  is 
olive  brown  in  color,  and  is  more  dreaded  than  all 
others,  because  it  is  more  irritable,  and  more  disposed 
to  attack. 

The  young  of  all  serpents  are  produced  from  eggs. 
At  regular  periods  snakes  slough,  or  throw  off,  their 
skins,  a  bright  new  covering  taking  the  place  of  the  old 
garment. 


34.    HOW   A   TURTLE   TAUGHT    A    LESSON. 

THE  following  sketch  by  Mr.  E.  S.  Thayer  appeared 
some  years  since  in  St.  Nicholas,  and  is  inserted  here 
by  permission. 

About  thirty  years  ago,  there  was  a  little  boy  whose 
name  was  John — a  pretty  boy,  with  thick,  golden  hair, 
large,  brown  eyes,  red  cheeks,  and  freckles.  One  day, 
in  summer,  he  was  playing  by  the  side  of  a  brook  in 
one  of  the  pastures  near  his  home  in  the  country. 
The  brook  resembled  the  boy  in  some  respects.  It 
was  in  its  first  light-hearted  youth,  and  went  on  its 
way,  leaping  and  sporting. 

This  active  little  boy  first  built  a  dam  of  moss  and 
turf  and  stones ;  then  he  rolled  up  his  trousers  and 
sailed  his  little  schooner-rigged  boat;  and,  finally, 


HOW   A   TURTLE   TAUGHT   A    LESSON.  15! 

waded  aimlessly  over  the  smooth  sand  through  the 
cool,  running  water,  dashing  the  sparkling  drops  to 
right  and  left  with  his  frisky  feet.  In  this  way,  he 
came  to  a  large,  flat  rock,  over  a  portion  of  whose 
smooth  surface  the  stream  flowed  in  a  broad,  crystal 
current. 

A  mud-turtle  sat  on  the  rock,  half  out  of  the  water, 
enjoying  the  pleasant  sunshine,  apparently  as  contented 
and  happy  as  a  turtle  could  be.  But  when  he  "saw  the 
boy  splashing  along  at  such  a  rate,  he  thought  it  high 
time  to  be  gone ;  perhaps  he  had  previously  had  ex- 
perience of  the  tender  mercies  of  boys,  for  he  made 
great  haste  to  reach  the  protecting  mud  of  the  bank. 

"Ah,  ha,  you  rogue!  you  think  you  can  get  away, 
do  you?"  shouted  the  youngster.  The  next  instant 
he  was  kneeling  on  the  slippery  rock,  with  both  hands 
outstretched  over  the  prisoner.  John  had  been  carry- 
ing his  shoes — his  stockings  stuffed  into  them — with 
one  hand  ;  but  now,  in  his  eagerness  to  secure  the  turtle, 
he  dropped  them  upon  a  part  of  the  rock  covered  by 
the  stream,  and,  turning  sideways  as  they  fell,  the 
water  rushed  in,  filling  them  to  the  very  toes.  . 

' 'There!"  exclaimed  John,  half  in  real  and  half  in 
affected  vexation,  ' '  you  have  made  me  get  my  stock- 
ings wet,  and  you  must  be  punished  for  it.  I  shall 
turn  you  over  on  your  back,  and  you  may  stay  there, 
sir,  until  I  come  back  from  school  to-night." 

That  night,  John  came  home  from  school,  with  a 
group  of  school-fellows,  over  the  village  road,  instead 
of  across  the  pasture,  forgetting  all  about  the  turtle 
he  had  left  on  the  rock.  Vacation  began  the  next 
day,  and  John  was  to  spend  a  whole  month  with  his 


152  LIVING  CREATURES. 

brother  who  lived  in  Boston.  You  can  understand 
the  excitement  which  attends  a  boy's  preparations  for 
his  first  journey ;  but  a  country  boy's  first  visit  to 
Boston  exceeds,  perhaps,  any  experience  of  yours  in 
that  line. 

The  month  passed  swiftly  away,  and  John  returned 
home  with  brighter  eyes  and  prouder  step.  The  world 
had  been  revealed  to  him  on  a  broader  scale.  What 
had  he  not  seen?  He  was  a  hero  in  the  opinion  of 
his  school-mates.  He  had  enough  stories  to  tell  of 
his  adventures  to  last  through  the  winter. 

If  possible,  he  was  a  merrier  boy  than  before,  who 
now  bounded  through  the  dear  old  pasture.  There 
were  several  dams  visited  by  their  young  proprietor, 
one  somewhat  extensive,  with  a  miniature  water-wheel 
and  mill  at  the  side.  The  dam  had  been  partially 
washed  away  by  a  violent  rain,  and  an  accumulation 
of  moss  had  clogged  the  wheel  of  the  mill.  "  Ah! 
I  see  there  has  been  a  freshet,  and  my  mill  is  dam- 
aged. These  freshets  are  terrible  things  for  manufact- 
urers, I  declare !  " 

Leaving  the  scene  of  this  disaster,  he  approached 
the  smooth,  white  rock,  which  was  always  a  favorite 
resort,  and  near  which,  on  the  bank  of  the  stream, 
there  was  a  structure  of  brick  about  two  feet  high, 
which  this  young  man  called  "my  summer  residence 
on  the  Hudson." 

Six  yards  from  the  rock,  he  suddenly  paused,  with 
his  eyes  intently  fixed  upon  some  object  before  him. 
'Step  by  step,  he  drew  nearer  without  once  moving  his 
eyes,  which  were  now  full  of  horror  mingled  with  a 
hopeful  doubt;  but  as  he  proceeded,  the  doubt  van- 


HOW    A    TURTLE   TAUGHT    A    LESSON. 


153 


John  and  the  Mud-turtle. 


ished,  and  the  horror  spread  over  his  whole  counte- 
nance. There  lay  the  turtle  on  the  rock,  upon  its 
back,  as  he  had  left  it — its  extended  legs  and  head 
shriveled  and  dry,  scorched  by  the  blazing  suns  of 
four  August  weeks. 

There  was  no  need  of  gentle  pity  now — no  oppor- 
tunity for  showing  humane  kindness  to  a  dumb,  harm- 
less creature.  No  more  would  it  gladly  hide  itself  in 
the  protecting  earth,  or  hasten  in  fright  from  the 
dreaded  hand.  What  vain  struggles  to  regain  its  feet ! 
What  weariness  and  despair !  What  agony  when  the 
noon  suns  beat  down !  What  pangs  of  slow  starva- 
tion !  As  all  this  passed  through  John's  mind,  the 
rock  seemed  no  longer  the  old,  familiar  spot. 


154  LIVING    CREATURES. 

With  pallid  face  he  turned  away,  and  hurried  home 
in  the  gathered  twilight,  nor  stopped  until  he  reached 
the  cheerful  room  in  which  his  mother  sat  sewing  and 
his  father  reading. 

That  boy  has  long  been  a  man,  but  the  years  that 
have  passed  have  by  no  means  worn  away  the  remem- 
brance of  this  scene,  or  the  impressions  it  left  on  his 
mind.  And  on  that  memorable  evening  John  took 
his  first  lesson  in  kindness  toward  dumb  animals. 


35.   THE    BOX-TORTOISE    AND    ITS    KIN. 

THE  tortoise,  or  turtle,  is  appropriately  called  "an 
animal  in  a  box."  It  is  an  animal  with  a  backbone; 
and  a  most  singular  specimen  of  the  backboned  or 
vertebrate  animals  it  is.  Insects,  as  we  saw,  have 
their  skeletons  on  the  outside,  and  their  soft  parts — 
flesh  and  so  forth — inside.  The  backboned  animal,  in 
nearly  all  cases,  has  its  skeleton  of  bone  within,  and 
its  soft  parts  without.  But  here  is  an  animal  that  has 
a  bony  skeleton  both  inside  and  outside. 

The  inside  bones  of  the  turtle  grow  through  the 
flesh  and  spread  over  the  body  above  and  below,  mak- 
ing a  box  with  holes  for  the  head  and  the  legs  to  pass 
out  and  in.  This  shell  is  covered  with  horny  plates, 
which,  when  taken  from  a  particular  kind  of  sea-turtle, 
are  the  tortoise-shell  of  which  combs  and  match-boxes 


THE    BOX-TORTOISE  AND    ITS    KIN. 


155 


are  made.  The  head  is  covered  with  horny  substance 
to  protect  it.  The  jaws  are  hard  and  are  without  teeth. 
The  shell-box  is  so  stiff  that  the  turtle  can  not  breathe 
in  the  ordinary  way.  Hence  it  breathes  like  the  toad, 
by  swallowing  the  air.  The  food  of  the  box-tortoise 
consists  of  insects,  of  toad-stools  and  mushrooms. 

The  main  difference  between  the  land  and  the  water 
turtles  is  that  the  former  has  stubby  feet,  while  the 
latter  has  webbed  or 
finny  feet  for  swim- 
ming. Our  common 
turtle  likes  to  live 
both  on  land  and  in 
the  water.  There  is 
a  kind  of  box-tor- 
toise which  despises 
the  water,  exists 
wholly  on  land,  and 

sometimes  lives  to  a  great  age.  The  Rev.  Gilbert 
White,  of  England,  owned  one  that  had  lived  among 
his  friends  for  forty  years.  A  turtle  was  found  in 
Pennsylvania  bearing  a  date  which  was  known  to  have 
been  cut  in  its  shell  before  the  commencement  of  this 
century ;  and  when  last  found  it  was  more  than  sixty 
years  old. 

The  sea-turtles,  which  are  especially  abundant  about 
the  Tortugas  Islands,  are  those  commonly  used  for 
food.  The  green  turtle  is  preferred  for  this  purpose. 
Some  of.  these  sea-turtles  grow  to  an  immense  size,  a 
single  one  weighing  as  much  as  four  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds.  The  manner  of  depositing  eggs  on  the  sand 
beach  of  the  islands  is  thus  described  by  Audubon; 


Box- tortoise. 


156 


LIVING  CREATURES. 


"On  first  nearing  the  shore,  and  mostly  on  fine,  calm 
moonlight  nights,  the  turtle  raises  her  head  above  the 
water,  looks  around  her,  and  attentively  examines  the 
objects  on  the  shore.  Should  she  see  nothing  likely  to 
disturb  her  intended  operations,  she  gives  a  loud  hiss- 


Green-turtle. 


ing  sound  by  which  her  enemies  are  startled  and  driven 
away.  She  advances  slowly  toward  the  beach,  crawls 
over  it,  her  head  raised  to  the  full  length  of  her  neck, 
and  when  she  reaches  a  suitable  place,  she  gazes  all 
around  in  silence. 

"Then  she  proceeds  to  make  a  hole  in  the  sand  with 
her  hind  flippers.  The  sand  is  raised  with  one  flipper 
and  then  with  the  other,  as  with  a  ladle,  until  it  is 
piled  up  behind  her.  In  this  manner  the  hole  is  dug 
to  the  depth  of  two  feet.  This  labor  I  have  seen  per- 
formed in  the  short  space  of  nine  minutes. 


UNIVERSITY 
LIZARDS    AND   CROCODILES. 


"The  eggs  are  then  dropped,  one  by  one,  and  ar- 
ranged in  regular  layers  to  the  number  of  a  hundred 
and  fifty  or  two  hundred.  The  whole  time  spent  in  this 
part  of  the  operation  may  be  about  twenty  minutes. 
She  now  scrapes  the  loose  sand  back  over  the  eggs, 
and  so  levels  them  and  smoothes  the  surface,  that 
few  persons,  on  seeing  the  spot,  could  imagine  that 
any  thing  had  been  done  to  it.  This  accomplished  to 
her  mind,  she  retreats  to  the  water  with  all  possible 
speed,  leaving  the  hatching  of  the  eggs  to  the  heat  of 
the  sand." 


36.    LIZARDS    AND    CROCODILES. 

THE  eye  will  readily  detect  the  difference  between 
the  two  reptiles,  the  serpent  and  the  lizard.  As  the 
snake  has  a  more  perfect  body  skeleton  than  the  toad, 
so  the  lizard  is  more  complete  than  the  snake,  and,  be- 
sides, has  four  limbs.  The  limbs  are  weak,  and  the 
lizard  shows  its  cousinship  to  the  snake  by  touching 
the  under  part  of  its  body  to  the  ground. 

Like  snakes,  lizards  have  been  the  subjects  of  a  great 
many  notions,  stories  and  superstitions  that  are  entirely 
without  foundation.  Many  stories  have  been  told 
about  the  basilisk  of  South  America  and  Mexico.  It 
was  said  that  it  possessed  a  deadly  poison  with  which 
it  infected  the  air ;  and  that  the  glance  of  its  eye 
carried  destruction.  The  fact  is  that  the  basilisk  is 
entirely  harmless  and  inoffensive.  The  lizard  called  the 
gila  monster,  of  Arizona,  gives  poison  in  its  bite ;  but 


158 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


nearly  all  lizards  are  wholly  inoffensive,  while  they  do 
much  good  by  destroying  beetles  and  other  harmful 
insects. 

The  horned  toad,  which  is  found  in  some  of  the  states 
west  of   the    Mississippi,    in   Colorado    and    California, 

is  coming  to  be  well 
known,  because  it  is 
so  pleasing  as  a  pet. 
It  is  not  a  toad, 
though  slightly  re- 
sembling one.  When 
first  caught,  a  string 
is  tied  to  its  horns, 
and  it  is  fastened  like 
a  chained  dog.  Soon 
it  becomes  very  tame, 
and  will  take  milk 

and  flies  from  the  hands  of  its  friends.  It  is  so  bashful 
that,  when  looked  at  sharply,  it  flattens  its  body  and 
pretends  to  be  dead.  A  little  tickling  of  its  sides 
brings  back  its  activity.  The  dog  it  especially  dislikes, 
puffing  itself  up  when  he  comes  near,  and  lowering  its 
horns  and  hissing  in  a  most  ridiculous  way. 

A  long  step  from  the  lizard  brings  us  to  the  crocodile 
and  alligator,  which  inhabit  tropical  rivers.  The  croco- 
dile sometimes  grows  to  a  length  of  twenty  fe.et.  In 
Africa  it  is  very  abundant,  and  is  dangerous,  sometimes 
catching  cattle  and  antelopes,  when  they  come  to  drink. 
Livingstone  says  it  frequently  captures  little  children 
at  play  on  the  river  banks. 

The  ancient  Greek  historian,  Herodotus,  describes 
the  crocodile  bird,  which  is  a  cousin  of  our  plover. 


Horned  Toad. 


LIZARDS    AND    CROCODILES. 


159 


He  says  that  the  inside  of  the  mouth  of  the  huge  rep- 
tile is  covered  with  leeches;  and  that  while  all  other 
birds  avoid  the  crocodile,  the  trochilus  (tro'kilus)  lives 
at  peace  with  it.  When  the  animal  lies  on  the  beach, 
it  opens  its  mouth  wide  to  let  in  the'  fresh  breeze. 
Then  its  little  feathered  friend  enters  the  mouth  and 
picks  out  the  leeches,  thus  doing  great  service  to  the 
monster.  Recent  travelers  have  found  this  story  of 
Herodotus  to  be  true.  The  plover  has  been  seen  to 


Alligator. 

walk  up  and  down  the  back  of  the  crocodile,  and  to 
enter  its  mouth.  But  when  the  hunter  appears,  the 
bird  screeches  and  wakes  up  the  sleeping  beast,  when 
it  darts  into  the  water  and  is  safe. 

The  alligator  of  Florida  is  the  American  crocodile. 
Its  young  are  sometimes  petted,  and  its  skin  is  made 
use  of  for  leather.  Its  greatest  length  is  twelve  feet. 
It  "does  not  attack  like  the  African  crocodile.  Dog 
meat  is  especially  relished  by  it,  and  alligators  are  said 
to  assemble  on  hearing  the  whining  of  a  puppy.  Like 
other  reptiles  of  their  kind,  crocodiles  and  alligators 
lay  eggs,  which  are  left  in  the  sand  to  hatch. 


I6O  LIVING    CREATURES. 


37.    AUBUBON. 

AUDUBON  (O'du  bon)  was  a  great  friend  of  birds — 
you  may  have*  learned  that.  But  do  you  know  that 
he  was  one  of  the  great  toilers  who  endured  hardship 
and  danger  to  find  out,  and  to  put  into  convenient 
form  our  knowledge  of  birds  ?  One  little  incident  in 
his  life  will  show  how  much  such  knowledge  costs. 

In  the  forests  of  Florida,  Audubon  discovered  a 
small  gray  bird,  in  color  so  nearly  like  the  trees  upon 
which  it  was  busy  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  see 
it  distinctly.  He  could  not  rest  until  he  had  found 
out  about  it.  He,  therefore,  procured  a  field-glass  or 
telescope,  made  a  bed  of  moss  in  a  concealed  place, 
and  there  lay  most  of  the  time  for  three  weeks,  watch- 
ing the  movements  and  ways  of  a  pair  of  these  little 
gray  birds.  By  this  painstaking  he  was  able  to  write 
their  history. 

For  fifteen  years  he  roamed  through  the  forests  and 
over  the  wild  plains  of  America,  with  gun,  knapsack, 
and  dog.  He  visited  the  homes  of  wild  birds  from 
Florida  to  Labrador,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
wilds  of  the  Missouri  River.  He  was  exposed  to  all 
weathers  and  climates ;  to  heat,  cold,  and  storm.  He 
not  only  studied  the  habits  of  birds,  but  with  his 
pencil  he  drew  their  forms,  and  with  his  brush  he 
painted  their  natural  colors.  Then  he  published  to  the 
world  two  volumes,  of  elephant  folio  size  (twenty- 
three  by  fourteen  inches)  containing  the  written  his- 
tory and  the  colored  portraits  of  over  a  thousand 
birds  of  America. 


AUDUBON.  l6l 

To  secure  a  publisher  for  this  immense  book  he 
must  go  to  Europe.  He  landed  in  England  with  only 
one  sovereign  in  his  pocket,  and  without  friends  or  ac- 
quaintance. Within  two  years,  in  1828,  he  had  won 
for  his  work  the  hearty  interest  of  the  kings  of  England 
and  France,  and  had  made  friends  of  such  great  men 
as  Sir  Walter  Scott  and  Baron  Cuvier  (CiiVea)  the 
great  naturalist  of  France. 

By  making  pictures  of  animals  and  selling  them,  as 
he  said,  "at  a  price  scarcely  more  than  the  wages  of 
a  common  laborer,"  he  paid  his  ordinary  expenses. 
All  this  time  he  was  inducing  men  of  wealth  to  sub- 
scribe for  the  book  he  was  trying  to  publish,  at  one 
thousand  dollars  a  copy.  Of  these  subscribers  he  ob- 
tained a  hundred  and  seventy,  and  completed  his  great 
undertaking  within  five  years. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  know  what  sort  of  a  boy 
grew  into  such  a  man.  John  James  Audubon  (which 
was  his  full  name)  was  born  in  1780  in  Louisiana,  and 
died  in  New  York  in  1851.  He  was  not  poor  as  were 
some  of  the  boys  who  became  great  men.  His  father 
was  a  Frenchman,  who  had  gained  wealth  in  St.  Do- 
mingo and  in  Louisiana ;  and  his  life  began  under  or- 
ange-trees, among  flowers,  and  in  hearing  of  the  wild 
mocking-bird's  song. 

His  youth  was  spent  at  his  father's  country  home 
in  France,  where,  by  a  kind  step-mother,  he  was  in- 
dulged in  all  that  a  boy  could  wish.  He  pursued  the 
ordinary  school  branches,  and  by  the  famous  artist 
David  was  taught  to  draw  and  to  paint.  He  learned 
to  play  the  flute  and  the  violin,  and  became  an  ac- 
complished dancer.  What  a  singular  preparation  for 

L.  C.— xx. 


1 62 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


John  James  Audubon. 

a  life  that  must  be  spent  in  the  camp,  in  swamps,  and 
woods,  and  that  must  be  supported  on  wild  fowl, 
roots,  and  herbs. 

Arrived  at  young  manhood,  with  plenty  of  gold,  he 
came  to  this  country  and  lived  by  himself  on  a  beauti- 
ful farm  in  Pennsylvania,  which  his  father  had  previ- 


AUDUBON.  163 

ously  purchased.  Here  he  was  gay,  and  fond  of  dress. 
He  even  hunted  in  satin  breeches  and  low  pump  shoes. 
As  during  his  childhood  in  France,  so  now  when  he 
was  grown,  he  was  always  trying  to  gratify  his  passion 
for  birds.  He  had  a  fondness  for  all  animals,  and  was 
skillful  in  training  dogs. 

But  poverty  came  to  him  at  last.  Through  the 
carelessness  and  failure  of  agents,  his  property  was 
lost.  Having  married,  he  removed  to  Kentucky,  where 
he  tried  to  be  a  merchant,  but  failed.  He  then  made 
his  home  in  Louisiana.  His  early  sports  in  hunting 
and  fishing  had  helped  to  give  him  a  good  physical 
constitution.  His  polite  training  fitted  him  for  winning 
the  friendship  of  all  sorts  of  people. 

PART  2. 

A  SINGLE  anecdote  will  give  something  of  Audu- 
bon's  earlier  experiences.  He  had  to  cross  the  wild 
prairie  in  southern  Illinois  alone,  except  for  the  presence 
of  his  dog  who  was  his  constant  companion.  When 
night  came,  the  distant  howling  of  the  wolves  encour- 
aged him  to  hope  that  he  was  near  the  wooded  coun- 
try where  a  camp-fire  might  be  enjoyed.  Soon  a  light 
gleamed  ahead,  and  a  log  cabin  was  at  length  reached. 
Here  a  tall,  haggard  woman  appeared,  who  consented 
to  allow  the  traveler  to  lodge  in  the  cabin.  By  the 
fire  within  sat  a  young  Indian  who  refused  to  talk. 

Having  supped  on  venison  and  fed  his  dog,  Audu- 
bon  took  out  his  gold  watch  and  remarked  to  the 
woman  that,  as  it  was  late,  he  would  like  to  retire. 
She  cast  a  longing  look  upon  the  treasure,  and  Audu- 


164  LIVING    CREATURES. 

bon,  to  gratify  her,  allowed  her  to  take  the  watch  and 
to  put  its  chain  about  her  neck.  She  was  greatly 
pleased,  and  declared  she  would  be  the  happiest  woman 
if  she  owned  such  a  treasure. 

This  aroused  Audubon's  suspicion.  Then  the  Indian 
passed  by  him  and  gave  him  a  severe  pinch  in  his  side. 
He  now  studied  both  the  woman  and  the  red  man, 
but  concluded  that  of  the  two  the  latter  was  his  friend. 
After  a  while,  for  the  purpose  of  wjnding  it,  he  asked 
the  woman  for  his  watch.  Taking  his  gun,  he  said  he 
would  go  out  and  see  what  the  weather  promised. 
Once  outside  the  cabin,  he  slipped  a  bullet  into  his 
rifle,  scraped  the  flint  of  its  lock,  and  primed  it  with 
powder. 

Re-entering  the  cabin,  he  lay  down  on  some  bear- 
skins in  the  corner,  with  his  faithful  dog  by  his  side, 
and  soon  pretended  to  be  sound  asleep.  Shortly,  two 
strong  young  men  entered,  bringing  the  carcass  of  a 
deer.  They  asked  the  mother  why  that  rascally  Indian 
was  there,  when  she  hushed  them,  pointed  to  Audu- 
bon  in  the  corner,  and  softly  spoke  of  the  watch.  All 
this,  in  the  glare  of  the  firelight,  the  stranger  could  see 
with  his  half-open  eyes.  He  touched  his  dog,  who 
looked  up  and  seemed  to  understand  what  was  going 
on,  as  if  he  were  human. 

When  the  young  men  had  eaten  their  supper,  the 
three  drank  a  quantity  of  whisky,  and  the  woman, 
like  a  grim  fiend,  taking  a  large  carving-knife,  went  to 
the  grindstone  to  whet  its  edge.  Audubon  saw  her 
pour  the  water  on  the  stone  and  turn  the  crank.  It 
seemed  to  him  that  his  life  was  in  great  danger,  and  a 
cold  sweat  started  over  his  whole  frame.  Having  made 


AMONG    THE    BIRDS.  165 

the  weapon  sharp,  she  returned  to  her  sons  and  said, 
"  There,  that'll  settle  him  !  And  then  for  the  watch  !  " 
Audubon  silently  touched  his  dog,  cocked  his  rifle, 
and  was  ready  to  shoot  the  person  who  first  attempted  his 
life.  He  had  almost  risen  to  fire  at  the  woman,  when 
the  door  burst  open  and  two  stout  travelers  entered. 
Audubon  sprang  to  his  feet,  and  the  Indian  bounded 
up  and  danced  for  joy ;  for  he,  like  Audubon,  had  lain 
in  fear  of  his  life.  The  whole  story  was  soon  told, 
when  the  woman  and  her  sons  were  bound,  and  the 
next  day  were  carried  away  and  punished. 


38.    AMONG    THE    BIRDS. 

WITH  a  group  of  wild  mallard  ducks  in  view,  we  be- 
gin to  learn  something  about  birds.  Do  you  expect  a 
definition  of  a  bird?  Let  me  the  rather  ask  you  the 
question,  What  is  a  bird  ?  and  leave  you  to  answer  it. 
I  think  I  hear  some  bright  girl  saying,  ' '  A  bird  is  an 
animal  that  flies."  Is  it,  indeed?  Is  a  bat  a  bird,  and 
are  there  no  birds  that  do  not  fly?  What  about  the 
ostrich,  and  the  penguin  which  has  no  feathered  wings 
to  fly  with? 

Another  suggests  something  about  feathers.  Ah ! 
that  springs  a  thought  in  the  right  direction.  Now  run 
over  in  your  mind  all  the  different  kinds  of  animals 
you  can  think  of,  and  see  whether  any  of  them  besides 
birds  have  feathers.  It  would  be  well  to  get  some 
feathers — a  wing,  for  example — and  examine  them 


166 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


closely,  placing  a  barb  of  the  vein  under  a  microscope, 
if  possible. 

Procure  the  bones  of  a  bird — that  ought  to  be  easily 
done — and  see  how  the  frame  of  the  creature  is  built, 
and  how  the  different  parts  suit  the  habits  and  pur- 
poses of  the  bird's  life.  The  foot  is  an  interesting 
piece  of  mechanism.  Have  you  never  found,  at  the 
joint  where  the  foot  and  the  "drumstick"  meet,  a 
tendon  or  cord  which,  by  being  pulled,  will  draw  the 
claws  in  ? 


Mallard  Duck. 


You  can  find  it  in  the  chicken's  foot ;  see  if  it  is  also 
in  the  duck's  foot.  And  now  give  a  reason,  if  you 
can,  why,  when  a  chicken  holds  to  its  roost  all  night, 
its  foot  does  not  grow  tired.  If  the  same  arrangement 
should  be  found  in  the  duck's  foot,  of  what  use  would 
it  be,  since  the  duck  does  not  perch?  You  would  find 
your  hand  very  tired  were  you  compelled  to  grasp  a 
pole  for  eight  hours  without  rest. 


AMONG   THE    BIRDS.  167 

For  the  purpose  of  learning  something  about  their 
general  ways  and  habits,  birds  may  be  divided  into 
three  large  groups  :  birds  of  the  water,  birds  of  the 
land,  and  birds  of  the  air.  One  thing,  however,  must 
be  kept  in  mind,  and  that  is,  that  a  bird  has  a  definite 
object  to  live  for.  This  object  is  threefold  ;  namely, 
to  secure  and  to  eat  its  food;  to  protect  its  young;  and 
to  escape  from  danger. 

The  duck  is  certainly  a  water  bird.  It  can  fly,  but 
it  can  not  easily  perch,  nor  can  it  scratch  like  a  chick- 
en. It  is  made  to  get  its  food,  to  rear  its  young,  and 
to  escape  from  danger  in  or  about  the  water.  The 
duck's  body,  you  will  see,  is  shaped  like  the  keel  of  a 
well-made  boat.  Compare  the  wish-bone  or  merry- 
thought of  a  duck  with  that  of  a  chicken,  and  see  how 
much  better  the  duck's  keel  is  suited  to  sailing.  Then 
compare  the  feet  of  the  two,  and  decide  which  foot  is 
the  best  paddle.  The  chicken's  foot  has  scarcely  any 
web  connecting  the  toes;  the  duck's  foot  has  a  web 
extending  to  the  ends  of  the  three  front  toes. 

You  have  noticed,  I  suppose,  that  the  duck  has  a 
ludicrous  walk.  Some  very  fat 
people  walk  in  the  same  way. 
Watch  a  race  between  chickens 
and  ducks  when  all  are  called  to 
be  fed.  How  soon  the  ducks  are 


left  behind.     Then  watch  a  hen 

while  the  ducklings  she  has  hatched  sail  on  the  water— 
they  so  happy,  and  she  so  miserable.     Then  the  hen  is 
left   behind.      It    is    not  difficult    to  decide  which  one 
belongs  to  the  water  and  which  one  to  the  land. 
The  duck's  feet  are  wide  apart,  and  its  legs  are  joined 


1 68  LIVING    CREATURES. 

to  the  body  far  back  toward  the  tail,  like  the  paddle- 
wheels  of  a  steamboat.  The  duck's  food  is  largely  in 
the  shallow,  muddy  bottom.  Its  bill  is  rather  flat  and 
broad,  and  on  the  inside  is  furnished  with  plates  like 
strainers,  by  which  the  food  is  retained,  and  the  mud 
and  water  are  strained  out,  and  run  away. 

The  duck  finds  in  the  water  a  protection  from  dan- 
ger both  for  itself  and  for  its  young.  It  can  swim 
swiftly  away  from  enemies  that  might  catch  it  on  shore, 
and  when  surprised  by  the  sportsman,  it  can  dive  and 
move  for  some  distance  under  the  surface.  The  duck- 
lings are  covered  with  down,  and  can  swim  and  dive  as 
soon  as  they  are  hatched,  so  that  they,  too,  find  a  com- 
paratively safe  home  in  the  water. 

PART  2. 

THE  canvas-back,  the  mallard,  and  the  fat  little  teal 
are  the  ducks  chiefly  sought  by  the  sportsman.  The 
tame  Rouen  duck  isjeally  a  mallard,  and  the  drake 
may  be  known  by  the  green  head,  white  ring  about 
the  neck,  glossy,  black  back,  and  silver-gray  under- 
feathers. 

The  wild  duck  is  cunning.  .  It  often  dives,,  and  re- 
mains out  of  sight,  leaving  the  spectator  to  wonder 
where  it  can.  be.  But  the  sportsman  has  found  that, 
having  swum  to  shallow  water,  the  bird  will  lie  with 
its  bill  and  nostrils  out  of  water  until  danger  is  over. 

The  nest  of  the  duck  is  made  under  a  bush  not  far 
from  the  water.  In  twenty-eight  days  the  nine  or 
eleven  eggs  hatch.  The  mother-bird  plucks  the  feath- 
ers from  her  breast,  to  cover  her  eggs.  From  this 


AMONG   THE    BIRDS. 


169 


habit  the  costly  down  of  the  northern  eider-duck  is 
left  to  be  gathered.  When  the  young  are  hatched, 
the  mother  hurries  them  to  the  water  to  escape  the 
craft  of  foxes,  minks,  and  snakes. 

Wild  geese  and  swans  are  relations  of  the  duck. 
Both  make  a  great  show  of  defense,  the  goose  by 
hissing  and  the  swan  by  whistling.  They  make  their 
summer  nest  far  north,  but  travel  southward  in  the 
autumn.  Wild  geese  are  frequently  seen  flying  very 
high  in  the  air,  in  two  lines  coming  to  a  point  like  a 
wedge.  In  this  way  they  cleave  the  air  more  easily. 
Flying  in  the  night,  they  make  a  doleful  noise  so  that 
they  may  keep  together. 

The  tame  goose  is  a  very  ancient  member  of  the 
poultry-yard,  much  more  so  than  the  tame  duck. 
Homer  and  other 
Greek  writers  speak 
of  it.  The  Romans 
kept  geese  in  walled 
yards,  hatched  their 
eggs  under  hens,  and 
plucked  their  feathers 
twice  a  year.  Pliny, 
greatly  distressed  at 
the  luxurious  habits 
of  his  fellow  Romans, 
writes:  "Luxury  has 
come  to  such  a  pitch 
that  now-a-days  men  will  not  rest  their  necks  unless 
upon  a  pillow  of  goose- feathers. " 

Although  ducks  and  their  cousins  have  paddle-feet, 
they  sometimes,  to  avoid  the  dangers  of  the  ground, 


Wild   Geese. 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


build  nests  in  trees.  How  the  ducklings  reach  the 
ground  is  not  known.  Of  tree-nesting  geese,  the  Rev. 
Gilbert  White,  of  Selborne,  England,  who  spent  forty 
years  in  studying  animals,  says : 

"The  geese  in  Richmond  Park  do  roost  on  trees 
and  make  their  nests  in  old  oaks,  conveying  their 
young  to  the  ground  under  their  wings.  All  this  be- 
cause, when  they  made  their  nests  on  the  ground,  the 

water-rats  destroyed 
their  eggs."  This  be- 
ing true,  it  is  but  just 
to  add  that  this  bird 
is  not  half  so  much  of 
a  "goose"  as  people 
generally  suppose. 

Does  the  swan  ever 
sing?  Pliny  says, 
when  about  to  die  the 
swan  retires  and  sings 
most  sweetly.  Ben 
Jonson  called  his 
friend  Shakespeare 
the  ' '  sweet  swan  of 
King  penguin.  Avon. "  Sharp  eyes 

and  ears  spoil  the  old  fables.     The  swan  never  sings. 
It  is  worth  little  except  for  its  beauty. 

The  loon,  the  guillemot,  and  the  penguin  are  more 
thoroughly  water  birds  than  is  the  duck.  Their  bills 
are  differently  shaped  because  their  food  is  fish.  The 
loon,  called  also  the  great  northern  diver,  is  the  prince 
of  all  divers.  It  will  dodge  a  close  shot.  It  is,  how- 
ever, "as  stupid  as  a  loon,"  for  a  bright-colored  flag 


WATER-SKIMMERS    AND    FLYERS.  I /I 

floated  on  the  water  will  so  attract  its  attention  that  it 
may  forget  to  dive  at  the  right  moment,  and  then 
falls  a  victim  of  the  bullet.  It  has  a  long  and  power- 
ful wing. 

The  loon's  legs  are  set  further  back  than  the  duck's 
legs.  It  is  impossible  for  this  bird  to  stand  except  in 
a  perpendicular  attitude.  The  penguin  of  the  Ant- 
arctic seas  is  more  closely  confined  to  the  water  than 
the  loon.  Its  wings  are  without  feathers  and  are  used 
in  swimming.  It  can  not  fly,  and  is  like  the  seal 
among  milk-giving  animals. 


39.    WATER-SKIMMERS    AND    FLYERS. 

AND  a  good  south  wind  sprung  up  behind; 

The  albatross  did  follow, 

And  every  day,  for  food  or  play, 

Came  to  the  mariners'  hollo! — Coleridge. 

PASSING  from  the  birds  that  swim,  dive,  and  use  the 
water  to  live  and  move  in  more  than  the  land  or  the 
air,  we  come  to  those  that  are  so  constructed  as  to 
hover  over  the  water,  or  to  wade  in  its  shallow  edges 
in  quest  of  fish-food.  Those  that  pick  their  food  from 
the  surface  of  large  waters,  are  provided  with  long  and 
strong  wings.  Those  that  enter  the  edge  of  the  water 
for  the  same  purpose,  are  fitted  with  long  legs  and  long 
necks.  The  bills  of  all  fish-eating  birds  are  strong 
and  have  sharp,  cutting  edges. 

Among  the  sea-flyers  the  albatross  is  distinguished. 


172 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


It  weighs  about  fifteen  pounds.  When  its  wings  are 
extended,  the  distance  between  the  tips  of  them  is 
eleven  feet.  The  albatross  will  follow  a  ship  for  hun- 
dreds of  miles,  to  pick  up  the  refuse  which  may  be 
thrown  upon  the  water.  It  is  furnished  with  webbed 
toes  so  that  it  may  rest  and  swim  on  quiet  water. 
"  When  one  of  these  great  birds  swoops  past  the  ob- 


Wandering  Albatross. 

server,  almost  within  reach  of  his  hand,  it  is  easy  to 
realize  the  strength  which  carries  him  as  he  cleaves 
the  air  on  those  huge  wings. 

"The  breeding  grounds,  both  in  the  Northern  and 
Southern  hemispheres,  are  upon  rocky  headlands  or 
oceanic  islands,  and  are  crowded  by  countless  num- 
bers of  birds.  There  sit  the  females  or  the  males,  as 
the  case  may  be,  upon  the  solitary  dirty  egg  placed 
in  a  slight  hollow  in  the  ground.  So  close  are  they, 
frequently,  that  it  is  difficult  to  walk  between  them, 


WATER -SKIMMERS    AND    FLYERS.  1/3 

while  they  take  no  further  notice  of  the  intruder  than 
to  pick  viciously  at  his  legs.  Here,  often,  on  the  very 
spot  where  this  long-winged  bird  is  cradled,  a  pen- 
'guin  may  afterwards  bring  up  a  nestling  whose  wings 
bear  no  feathers." 

Gulls  of  many  varieties  skim  about  the  sea  and  the 
inland  lakes.  They  belong  with  the  birds  that  have 
strong  flying  power,  with  bills  for  fishing,  and  webbed 
toes  for  swimming,  when  it  is  necessary  to  sit  on  the 
water.  Their  nests  are  made  in  the  sand  of  the  beach. 
There  are  many  varieties  of  gulls. 

The  tern,  or  sea-swallow,  may  be  counted  as  one  of 
these.  Pearly  white,  gentle  and  harmless,  with  small 
red  legs  and  webbed  toes,  it  does  much  to  relieve  the 
soberness  of  the  sea-coast.  But  the  ladies'  hats  have 
demanded  its  life.  What  would  old  Pliny  say  if  he 
were  here,  and  should  find  that  forty  thousand  of  these 
lovely  birds  were  slain  in  one  year,  merely  to  get  their 
wings  for  ornaments? 

The  pelican  has  full- webbed  feet;  that  is,  a  web 
joins  all  four  toes  instead  of  three  of  them  as  in  the 
case  of  the  duck.  It  is  found 
on  the  Florida  coast,  and  has 
a  bill  about  a  foot  long.  At- 
tached to  its  under  jaw,  is  a 
pouch  which  holds  a  gallon, 
or  perhaps  six  pounds  of  fish.  Peiican's  root. 

Into  this  bag  the  game  is  re- 
ceived as  soon  as  it  is  caught,  when  the  bird  retires  to  a 
sunny  beach  and  devours  the  food.     There  is  something 
here  to  remind  one  of  the  cheek  pouches  of  some  monk- 
eys, and  of  the  stomachs  of  cud-chewing  animals. 


1/4  LIVING    CREATURES. 


4O.    WADING    BIRDS    AND    SHORE    BIRDS. 

I  COME  from  haunts  of  coot  and  hern: 

I  make  a  sudden  sally, 
And  sparkle  out  among  the  fern 

To  bicker  down  a  valley. —  Tennyson. 

IT  is  Tennyson's  Brook  that  speaks,  and  it  comes 
from  a  wild  pond  which  is  the  haunt  of  the  coot  and 
the  heron.  While  the  reader  is  learning  about  the 
heron,  let  him  learn  by  heart  the  whole  poem  of  The 
Brook.  The  habits  of  the  different  kinds  of  water-feed- 
ing birds  are  leading  us  to  the  shallow  edges,  and  will 
soon  carry  us  entirely  away  from  broad  sheets  of  water. 

The  coot  is  the  common 
little  mud-hen  of  the  marshes, 
and  is  interesting  because  of  its 
lobed  foot,  which  has  flaps 
on  the  sides  of  the  toes.  The 
heron,  the  stork,  and  the 
crane  are  usually  to  be  seen 
at  the  zoological  gardens. 
The  stork  is  a  European  bird, 

American  Coot. 

and  in  some  localities  is  quite 

domestic.  These  waders  have  long  necks ;  this  is  be- 
cause they  have  long  legs.  The  neck  must  be  long 
enough  to  bring  the  bill  back  to  the  ground  from  which 
the  legs  take  it  away. 

Of  the  several  kinds  of  heron,  the  large  blue  heron 
is  distinguished  by  its  long  sharp  bill,  the  plume  or 
crest  on  its  head,  and  the  dull  blue  color  of  its  upper 
parts.  It  wades  into  the  water  and  stands  perfectly 


WADING    BIRDS    AND    SHORE    BIRDS. 


175 


motionless,  while  watching  for  a  fish  to  pass  by.  In 
this  position  it  may  wait  for  hours,  until  the  fishes  con- 
clude that  the  legs  are  nothing  more  than  a  pair  of 
sticks.  Then  it  darts  down  its  bill  with  perfect  aim 
and  lightning  speed,  and  seldom  fails  to  seize  its  prey. 

The  Florida  flamingo  is  a  long-legged,  snaky-necked 
wader  with  a  beautiful 
scarlet  plumage.  It  has 
a  duck's  webbed  foot 
which  must  help  it  to 
walk  on  the  water-cov- 
ered mud  where  it 
feeds.  The  great  length 
of  neck  enables  it  to 
work  its  bill  upside  down 
in  the  mud.  On  a  slight 
elevation  of  earth  it 
builds  its  nest,  and  when 
the  female  is  sitting,  she 
folds  her  long  legs  like 
a  carpenter's  measuring 
rule. 

Cranes  are  either  white 
or  brown,  and  are  without 

crest-plumes  on  their  heads.  In  their  wild  haunts  they 
are  given  >to  sports  and  games,  and  have  often  been 
seen  jumping  and  dancing,  bowing,  and  flapping  their 
wings  in  the  most  ludicrous  manner.  The  large  white 
whooping  crane  has  in  its  breast  a  long  windpipe,  two 
and  a  half  feet  of  which  are  coiled  up,  like  a  French 
horn,  under  its  breast-bone.  This  gives  it  the  power 
of  producing  a  loud  whooping  sound. 


Great  Blue  Heron. 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


The  crane  was  in  favor  with  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
because  of  its  yearly  visit  and  its  delicate  flesh.  Thus 
Homer,  the  greatest  Grecian  poet,  sings: 

So  when  inclement  winters  vex  the  plain 
With  piercing  frosts,  or  thick  descending  rain, 
To  warmer  seas  the  cranes  embodied  fly 
With  noise  and  order  through  the  mid-way  sky. 

Homer,  and  Aris- 
totle, a  Grecian  phi- 
losopher and  natural- 
ist, both  refer  to  the 
destruction  which  the 
cranes  bring  to  the 
wheat  fields.  They 
describe  a  race  of 
pygmies,  or  dwarfs, 
who  inhabited,  it  was 
supposed,  a  part  of 
upper  Egypt.  Upon 
the  newly-sown  wheat 
fields  of  these  little 
people,  the  cranes  sud- 
denly descended  from 
the  high  air.  When 
the  pygmies  ran  out 
to  drive  away  the 
mischief-makers,  the  cranes  gobbled  them  up  and  car- 
ried them  off — so  the  story  goes. 

Leaving  the  waders  and  the  water,  we  find  the  legs 
and  feet  of  the  birds  change.  The  legs  are  shorter, 
and  the  feet  are  not  fully  webbed.  Some  of  them  are 


Flamingoes  and  Nest. 


WADING    BIRDS   AND    SHORE   BIRDS. 


177 


sensitively    as 
were  a   finger. 


not  at  all  webbed,  while  others,  like  some  sandpipers' 
feet,  are  half-webbed.  The  snipe  family  love  the  damp 
cr  marshy  ground,  for  into  this  they  thrust  their  long  soft 
bills  that  are  provid- 
ed with  the  sense 
of  feeling.  The  bill 
feels  for  a  worm  as 
if  it 
The 

woodcock,  now  be- 
coming rare  at  the 
East,  where  it  has 
chiefly  lived,  is  the 
most  interesting  of 
the  snipes. 

It  has  a  striking 
head.  Its  eye  is 
strangely  located,  and 

its  ear  is  under  the  eye.  Both  old  and  young  are 
marked  so  much  like  the  ground  and  the  moss,  that  it 
is  difficult  to  discover  them.  Their  brooding  habits 
are  quite  peculiar.  An  English  sports- 
man and  naturalist  says:  "From 
close  observation  I  found  that  the  old 
woodcock  carries  her  young,  even 
when  it  is  larger  than  a  snipe,  not  in 
her  claws,  but  by  clasping  the  little  bird  between  her 
thighs." 

Where  neither  snipe  nor  woodcock  abound,  shore- 
walkers  may  perhaps  be  seen.  The  plover  and  the  sand- 
piper are  closely  related  to  the  snipe.  So  is  the  lap- 
wing spoken  of  on  page  8. 

L.  C.— 12. 


White  Whooping  Crane. 


Half-webbed  Foot. 


1 78 


LIVING   CREATURES. 


The   Storks   of  Delfth. 

41.    THE    STORK. 

v 

THIS  bird  is  a  near  relation  of  the  heron,  and  has 
long  and'  slender  legs,  and  a  long  and  rather  thick 
neck.  The  bill  is  of  the  same  length  as  the  head,  and 
tapers  to  a  point. 

In  the  countries  where  it  lives,  the  stork  is  cher- 
ished with  the  utmost  affection.  In  Holland,  the 
people  in  the  towns  and  cities  place  wooden  boxes  or 
frames  on  the  tops  of  the  houses  or  chimneys,  to  in- 
duce the  storks  to  settle  there.  The  birds  are  per- 
fectly tame,  and  are  thought  to  bring  prosperity  to 
the  person  who  entertains  them. 

In  the. winter  the  stork  goes  away  to  Egypt  or  some 
other  warm  country,  and  comes  back  with  the  swal- 
lows. The  ancient  Egyptians  almost  worshiped  it, 
and  it  was  one  of  their  sacred  birds.  The  reason  why 
this  bird  is  so  much  beloved  is  because  it  destroys  the 
snakes,  and  rats,  and  mice,  and  other  unpleasant  creat- 


THE    STORK.  179 

ures  that  infest  the  town.  It  settles  fearlessly  upon 
the  chimneys  and  roofs  of  the  houses,  and  builds  a  flat 
nest  of  sticks,  lined  with  twigs  and  straw,  and  dry 
grass.  There  are  laid  three  or  four  eggs  of  a  bluish- 
white  color,  and  it  takes  thirty  days  to  hatch  them. 

In  Holland  and  Germany  the  stork  rears  her  young 
in  the  utmost  security  on  the  tops  of  the  houses,  and 
even  walks  about  in  the  most  crowded  streets  amid 
men,  women,  and  children,  without  the  least  danger. 
To  harm  a  stork  is  considered  an  act  of  barbarity. 
The  young  birds  come  out  of  the  shell,  covered  with 
down,  and  remain  in  the  nest  until  the  end  of  sum- 
mer. The  parents  watch  over  them  with  the  greatest 
attention,  and  feed  them  by  putting  food  into  their 
mouths  from  their  own  beaks.  Nothing  could  ever 
induce  a  stork  to  leave  her  young  ones;  she  would 
rather  remain  and  perish  with  them. 

There  was  once  a  great  fire  in  the  city  of  Delfth, 
Holland.  The  flames  spread  to  a  house  on  which  a 
mother  stork  was  rearing  her  young.  The  little  ones 
were  too  weak  to  fly,  and  their  parents  did  all  they 
could  to  carry  them  away.  They  made  many  and 
desperate  efforts,  but  it  was  all  in  vain,  and  the  little 
ones  were  obliged  to  remain  in  the  nest. 

Meanwhile  the  fire  came  nearer  and  nearer,  and  you 
would  think  the  old  storks  would  be  frightened  and  fly 
away.  But  no  ;  they  still  refused  to  leave  their  little 
ones,  and  staid  close  by  them.  Even  when  the 
flames  closed  round  the  nest  they  did  not  stir,  choos- 
ing rather  to  die  with  their  young  than  desert  them. 

After  such  a  touching  history,  one  does  not  wonder 
that  the  stork  is  respected  and  beloved. 


i8o 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


42.    BIRDS    OF    THE    LAND. 

THEY  are  brought  to  mind  by  the  crowing  of  the 
cock  in  the  yard ;  by  the  cackling  of  the  hen  in  the 
hay-loft;  by  the  gabbling  of  the  strutting  turkey 
gobbler;  by  the  brassy  clicking  of  the  shy  guinea- 
fowl  ;  by  the  shrill,  doleful  cry  of  the  gorgeous  pea- 
cock, and  by  the  cheerful  whistling  of  Bob  White  sit- 
ting on  the  fence.  These  birds  of  the  land  may  fly 


Group  of  Quail. 

or  perch,  but  the  ground  is  their  home.  Here  they 
find  their  food,  make  their  nests,  and  rear  their  young. 
What  tools  have  they  for  life  on  the  ground  ?  They 
must  dig  for  worms,  grubs  and  insects.  They  must 
be  able  to  peck  through  a  chestnut-shuck  or  hazel-nut. 
They  have  a  host  of  enemies  to  contend  with.  Foxes, 
rats,  weasels,  and  opossums  on  the  ground ;  and 
hawks,  owls,  and  eagles  in  the  air,  are  watching  for 
their  flesh,  and  they  are  an  almost  constant  terror  by 


BIRDS    OF   THE    LAND. 


181 


day  and  by  night.     These  they  must  either  fight,  or 
escape  from  by  flying  or  by  running. 

A  short,  stout  beak,  with  the  upper  jaw  turning  its 
sharp  point  a  little  down  over  the  under  jaw,  gives 
them  a  good  instrument  to*  peck  with.  What  could 
they  do  with  the  bill  of  the  duck,  or  the  crane,  or  the 
woodcock  ?  The  leg  is  of  medium  length,  is  set  near 
the  middle  of  the  body,  and  is  suited  to  running.  The 
foot  ends  in  four  toes.  The  hind  toe  is  set  a  little 
higher  than  the  three  front  ones,  and  is  long  enough 
to  cling  to  the  perch.  The  front  toes  have  scarcely 
any  web  between  them,  and  are  armed  with  thick, 
strong  claws  for  scratching.  What  could  these  birds, 
that  must  scratch  for 
a  living,  do  with  such 
claws  as  ducks  and 
snipes  have  ?  The 
wings  are  strong,  and 
rather  round  than 
pointed  ;  but  they  are 
good  for  flying  short 
distances. 

Every  one,  who  as 
a  child  lived  in  the 
country,  retains  pleas- 
ant recollections  of 
Bob  White.  His  true  name  is  Virginia  partridge. 


California  Quail. 


He 


is  ten  inches  long,  and  he  has  a  very  near  relation — 
the  ruffed  grouse — which  is  sixteen  inches  long.  In 
New  England  and  the  North,  this  grouse  is  called  a 
partridge,  and  Bob  White  a  quail.  In  the  Southern 
states  Bob  is  named  a  partridge. 


1 82  LIVING  CREATURES. 

Bob  White's  habits  are  similar  to  those  of  his  near 
kjn — the  prairie-hen,  the  ruffed  grouse,  the  California 
helmet  quail,  and  several  other  scratching  birds.  The 
nest  is  made  on  the  ground,  usually  in  a  tuft  of  grass 
under  a  bush.  From  twelve  to  twenty  white  eggs  are 
there  deposited,  and  when  the  brood  is  hatched  they 
are  far  more  lively  than  chickens.  I  have  often  come 
upon  the  little  hen-quail  with  her  chicks.  She  is  then 
a  most  skillful  actor.  She  flutters  before  my  feet,  pre- 
tends to  be  lame,  and  to  have  a  broken  wing. 

The  growing  brood  becomes  a  flying  flock  or  "  cov- 
ey." The  covey  keeps  very  closely  to  the  ground. 
They  run  swiftly.  They  roost  on  the  ground.  On 
trees  or  bushes  they  would  be  too  much  at  the  mercy 
of  hungry  owls.  When  preparing  for  the  night,  they 
huddle  together  in  a  close  circle  with  their  tails  at  the 
center  and  their  heads  at  the  circumference,  so  that, 
when  surprised,  they  may  fly  in  all  directions. 


43.    THE    CAMEL-BIRD. 

THE  true  camel-bird  is  the  ostrich  of  the  African 
plains.  Its  kindred  are  the  South  American  ostrich, 
or  rhea,  and  the  emu  of  Australia.  The  African  os- 
trich has  two  toes,  and  the  others  have  three  toes  on 
each  foot.  The  feathers  of  none  are  so  fine  as  those 
of  the  camel-bird.  When  full-grown,  this  bird  stands 
about  seven  feet  high,  and  weighs  from  a  hundred  to  a 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  Its  wings  are  too  short  for 


THE   CAMEL-BIRD.  183 

flight,  although  they  help  to  increase  its  speed,  when 
running. 

The  ostrich  is  strictly  a  land  bird.  Its  breast  is  flat 
like  a  raft,  and  not  keel-shaped  like  the  breast  of  the 
swimming  and  flying  birds.  Its  usefulness  consists 
almost  wholly  in  the  beauty  and  value  of.  its  rich 
plumes.  Long  before  King  Pharaoh  of  Egypt  used 
the  feathers  for  royal  ornaments,  the  ostrich  and  its  gay 
dress  were  known  and  prized.  Since  it  has  become  a 
member  of  the  public  gardens,  and  has  been  introduced 
upon  farms  in  California,  great  interest  has  gathered 
about  this  feathered  camel. 

In  the  wild  desert  plains,  the  bird  is  so  shy  and 
wary  that  it  is  hunted  and  captured  with  great  diffi- 
culty. The  swiftest  Arab  horse  would  never  run  it 
down,  were  it  not  that  the  horse  can  endure  longer  than 
the  ostrich. 

The  nest  is  scooped  out  in  the  surface  of  the  sand, 
and  in  it  several  birds  may  deposit  their  eggs.  The 
males  do  the  sitting,  and  are  more  affectionate  to  the 
young  than  are  the  females.  During  the  heat  of  the 
day  the  nest  is  left  to  the  power  of  the  sun.  The  egg 
of  the  ostrich  is  about  six  inches  long,  and  weighs  as 
much  as  twenty-four  eggs  of  the  common  hen. 

On  the  farms  in  south  Africa  and  in  California,  the 
eggs  are  gathered  daily  from  the  nests,  and  are  after- 
wards hatched  in  artificial  ovens,  or  incubators.  The 
Romans  used  something  like  the  incubator  for  hatch- 
ing. The  habit  which  the  old  birds  have  of  eating 
stones,  bits  of  iron  and  glass,  pieces  of  leather,  and 
almost  every  thing  that  happens  to  be  lying  about, 
seems  to  begin  early  in  life.  The  young  birds  are 


1 84 


LIVING  CREATURES. 


plucked  at  six  months  of  age,  and  about  every  six  or 
nine  months  thereafter.  The  feathers  of  a  grown  bird, 
at  a  single  -plucking,  have  been  sold  for  a  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars. 

When  Rome  was  at  the  height  of  her  luxury  a  dish 
of  ostrich's  brains  was  considered  a  great  treat.  A 
gluttonous  and  cruel  emperor  had  as  many  as  six  hun- 
dred ostriches  killed  to  make  one  meal  of  brains. 


^gVo-^ 


South  African  Ostriches. 


"A  traveler  was  once  staying  in  a  village  where 
there  were  two  tame  ostriches.  Two  little  boys  used 
to  mount  on  their  backs,  and  have  a  ride.  The  os- 
triches would  run  round  and  round  the  village,  and 
never  seem  inclined  to  stop.  At  first  their  pace  was  a 
trot  ;  but  by  degrees  they  expanded  their  wings  and  ran 
very  fast  indeed,  scarcely  seeming  to  touch  the  ground. 
No  race-horse  could  have  'kept  up  with  them,  though 
the  ostriches  would  have  got  tired  much  the  soonest." 


BIRDS   OF   THE  AIR THE  PIGEON. 


i85 


44.  BIRDS  OF  THE  AIR THE  PIGEON. 

THE  pigeon  would  fare  poorly  on  the  ground ;  much 
more  so  in  the  water.  Its  feet  look  as  if  they  might 
scratch,  but  they  are  far  from  being  a  match  for  the 
quail's  feet.  Ground  birds  must  be  runners.  But  the 
pigeon  can  fly — indeed  it  can.  The  wild  pigeon,  next 


Wild  Pigeon. 

to  the  frigate-bird  of  the  ocean,  is  the  swiftest  of  fly- 
ers. From  seventy  to  a  hundred  miles  an  hour  is  its 
rate  of  speed.  It  seeks  safety  in  its  wings.  Its  food 
grows  mainly  upon  trees.  It  sleeps  in  the  tree-top. 
It  nests  there.  "  It  is  a  bird  of  the  air. 

The  passenger  pigeon  is  seventeen  inches  long  from 


1 86  LIVING    CREATURES. 

tip  of  bill  to  tip  of  tail.  The  mourning  dove  of  our 
orchards  is  twelve  inches  long.  The  common  barn- 
pigeons,  and  all  the  fancy  birds— pouters,  carriers,  runts, 
barbs,  fantails,  tumblers,  trumpeters,  and  so  forth,  in- 
cluding a  hundred  and  fifty  varieties — are  derived  di- 
rectly from  the  wild  rock-pigeon  of  Europe. 

Pigeons  eat  fruit,  seeds,  and  grain.  I  have  shot 
them  at  their  roosts  in  the  far  north,  and  found  their 
crops  filled  with  large  acorns.  I  wondered  how  they 
could  swallow,  and  much  more  how  they  could  digest 
the  hard,  bitter  things.  But  the  pigeon  has  a  good 
stomach.  The  crop  is  double,  and  softens  the  hard 
shucks  and  kernels,  after  which  the  gizzard,  with  its 
pair  of  ribbed  mill-stones,  grinds  them  well. 

The  young  pigeons  are  hatched  both  naked  and 
blind,  and  are  carefully  tended  by  the  two  parents. 
You  have  heard,  perhaps,  of  pigeons'  milk.  It  is  no 
fiction.  When  there  are  young  to  be  fed,  the  parents 
have  glands  in  their  crops  which  secrete  or  separate 
from  the  food  a  kind  of  milk ;  and  this  is  the  nourish- 
ment which  the  old  birds  pump  into  the  mouths  of 
their  tender  squabs.  Then  the  pigeon  drinks,  not  like 
a  chicken,  but  like  a  horse,  holding  its  bill  in  the 
water  till  it  has  enough. 

The  true  carrier  pigeon,  which  is  now  called  by  fan- 
ciers the  homing  pigeon,  is  by  far  the  most  interest- 
ing of  the  tame  varieties.  It  may  wear  a  variety  of 
colors,  and  is  a  most  meek,  modest,  delicate  looking 
creature.  Its  instinct  or  love  for  home  has  been  cul- 
tivated for  a  great  many  centuries.  It  is  trained  by 
ta'king  it  short,  and  then  longer  distances  from  home, 
and  allowing  it  to  return  on  the  wing.  Even  as  far 


BIRDS    OF   THE  AIR — THE  PIGEON. 


I87 


back  as  five  hundred  years  before  Christ,  the  messen- 
ger pigeon  was  employed  to  convey  letters  between 
lovers.  The  letters  in  those  days  were  tied  to  the 
feet ;  in  these  days  the  message  is  tied  to  the  tail 
feathers,  as  shown  in  the  illustration.  The  speed  of 
these  birds  is  about  fifty  miles  an  hour,  in  a  trip  of  five 
hundred  miles.  The  Romans  employed  messenger  pig- 
eons to  convey  messages  in  war. 


188 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


Bald  Eagle. 


45.    "LIONS    OF    THE    AIR 

WERE  the  birds  of  prey  arranged  in  a  line  accord- 
ing to  their  sizes,  there  would  be  at  one  end  of  the 
row  the  pigeon-hawk  eleven  inches  long,  and  at  the 
other  end  the  South  American  condor  three  and  a 
half  feet  long,  from  bill  to  tail,  and  nine  feet  between 
the  tips  of  its  extended  wings. 

Young  readers  in  the  country  are  acquainted  with 
these  "  lions"  through  the  chicken-hawk  and  the  owl. 


"  LIONS    OF    THE    AIR."  189 

City  folk  may,  perhaps,  see  the  king  of  the  air  as  a 
captive  in  the  zoological  garden.  It  is  fondly  hoped 
that  every  reader  carries  in  his  pocket,  at  least  occa- 
sionally, a  feeble  portrait  of  him  impressed  on  one  side 
of  the  American  silver  dollar. 

They  are  great  flyers.  The  condor  of  South  Amer- 
ica soars  to  the  height  of  twenty  thousand  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea.  These  creatures  have  a  wonder- 
ful power  of  sight.  Vultures  and  turkey  buzzards 
find  the  dead  bodies  on  which  they  feed,  not  by  scent, 
but  by  sight.  The  fish-hawk,  at  a  height  of  over  a 
hundred  feet  in  the  air,  can  see  a  minnow  under  the 
water.  The  owl  at  night  can  discern  a  bat  as  quickly 
as  a  cat  spies  a  mouse  in  the  dark. 

Of  eagles  there  are  two  prominent  kinds  in  this 
country.  The  golden  eagle  lives  in  mountainous  dis- 
tricts. The  bald  eagle,  or  "bird  of  Washington," 
shows  itself  occasionally  in  nearly  all  parts  of  the 
country.  It  is  not  really  bald,  but  when  three  years 
old  has  its  head  covered  with  white  feathers.  The 
bald  eagle  is  a  grand,  princely  bird  in  appearance,  and 
for  this  reason  was  chosen  as  our  nation's  emblem. 
The  great  and  good  Benjamin  Franklin  objected  to  its 
selection  for  that  purpose,  and  preferred  the  turkey. 

The  lion  of  the  African  desert  is  not  better  armed 
for  his  lordly  cruelty  than  are  these  lions  of  the  air. 
What  beaks  they  have !  Strong,  short,  sharp-edged, 
and  hooked.  What  fearful  claws!  These  are  the  first 
birds  we  find  that  use  the  claw  as  a  hand.  The  living 
prey— the  mouse,  the  chick  or  the  child — is  caught  and 
held  by  the  claws,  and  is  borne  away.  The  claws  of 
the  Alpine  eagle  are  not  fitted  for  this  work. 


LIVING  CREATURES. 


The  story  of  this  eagle  causing  the  death  of  ^Eschylus 
(F/skilus)  may  be  true  ;  and  if  so,  it  is  a  warning  to 
bald-headed  people  to  wear  their  hats  in  the  presence 
of  great  eagles.  ^Eschylus  was  a  Grecian  poet  who 
lived  about  five  hundred  years  before  Christ.  On  ac- 
count of  some  serious  charges  made  against  him,  he 
was  banished  from  his  country  and  took  up  his  resi- 
dence in  Sicily.  Once,  while  sitting  in  a  wild  and  se- 
cluded place,  with  his  smooth  and  venerable  head  ex- 

posed, the  great  Alpine  eagle 
was  sailing  in  the  air  above 
him,  carrying  a  tortoise. 

It  is   the   habit  of   eagles 
and    of   some    other    birds, 
when  they  have  a  turtle  in 
seizing  ciaw.  hand,  to  rise  high  in  the  air 

and  drop  it  on  a  rock  so  as  to  break  its  shell.  At 
this  moment,  when  the  poor  old  man  was  thinking  of 
nothing  but  his  heart  troubles,  the  eagle  mistook  him 
for  a  rock  ;  and  with  wonderful  precision,  let  the  tor- 
toise drop  on  his  bald  head.  And  alas  !  ^Eschylus 
was  killed. 

Eagles,  hawks,  and  buzzards  are  diurnal  birds  of 
prey.  Owls  are  nocturnal  birds  of  prey,  and  are  called 
"cats  of  the  air."  Nearly  all  birds  have  the  eyes  on 
opposite  sides  of  the  head,  so  that  with  one  eye  they 
can  watch  their  prey,  while  with  the  other  eye  they 
can  observe  the  movements  of  their  enemies. 

Owls  going  out  on  their  hunts  at  night,  are  not  in 
danger  from  other  stronger  inhabitants  of  the  air,  for 
these  are  all  asleep.  They  have  only  to  look  for  their 
victims;  and,  therefore,  their  eyes  are  in  the  face  or 


LIONS    OF    THE    AIR. 


Great  Horned  Owl. 


front  part  of   the   head.     They  have  beaks  and  claws 
essentially  like  those  of  the  day-birds  of  prey. 

Our  most  common  night-birds  of  prey  are  the  little 
screech  owl,  about  nine  inches  long ;  the  barn  owl, 
fifteen  inches  long ;  the  snowy  owl,  two  feet  long ;  and 
the  great  horned  owl  of  the  same  length. 


I92 


LIVING   CREATURES. 


46.     MONKEYS    IN    FEATHERS. 

THE  monkey  is  an  imitator  of  man's  actions,  while 
the  parrot  is  a  mimic  of  man's  talk. 

That  (< Polly"  has  a  high  degree  of  intelligence  no 
one  can  doubt,  for  he  sometimes  talks  in  such  a  way 
as  to  indicate  that  he  reasons.  A  parrot  show  was 


Gray  Parrot. 

held  in  the  north  of  England,  at  which  prizes  were  of- 
fered for  the  best  talking  powers.  Several  birds  had 
exhibited  their  efforts,  when  a  gray  parrot  was  let  out 
of  his  cage.  Seeing  the  large  company  before  him, 
he  at  once  exclaimed,  "By  Jove,  what  a  lot  of  par- 
rots! "  The  prize  was  at  once  given  to  him. 

The   climbing  organs  of  the  parrot  are  all  plain  to 


MONKEYS    IN    FEATHERS. 


193 


the  eye.  First  the  bill — how  odd  and  awkward  it  ap- 
pears !  But  it  does  nice  work.  The  under  jaw  is  a 
stumpy,  stubby  affair,  but  presses,  up,  and  cuts  and 
cracks  with  great  power.  The  upper  jaw  turning  down 
like  a  long  curved  hook,  moves  up  and  down  on  a 
kind  of  loose  hinge. 

The  birds  of  prey  make  quite  a  hand  of  the  claw. 
The  parrot's  claw  is  still  more  of  a  hand.     The  hawk 
throws    three    toes 
forward  for  fingers, 
and    one    backward 
for    a    thumb;    the 
parrot  extends  two 
before,  and  two  be- 
hind for  thumbs. 

The  little  green 
Carolina  parrot,  or 
parakeet,  is  the  on- 
ly member  of  the 
order  which  is  na- 
tive to  our  country. 
It  is  a  genuine  par- 
rot. Its  color  is 
green,  with  a  yellow 
head,  and  it  is  about  twelve  inches  long.  In  former 
times,  say  seventy  years  ago,  it  was  abundant  as  far 
north  as  the  Ohio  River,  and  was  seen  even  at  Albany, 
New  York. 

The  ring  parrot,  which  is  also  present  in  the  garden, 
is  from  India  and  Africa.  It  was  the  only  one  known 
to  the  ancients.  Aristotle,  the  Greek  naturalist,  refers 
to  it  as  the  "  Indian  bird  which  is  said  to  have  a  tongue 

L.C.-is. 


Carolina  Parrot. 


194  LIVING  CREATURES. 

like  a  man,  and  to  be  most  talkative  when  intoxicated. " 
The  large  gray  parrot  is  from  Africa  and  Madagascar. 
It  is  the  best  talkej  among  parrots. 

A  parrot  in  Pennsylvania  recently  brought  about  a 
lawsuit.  Two  men  had  an  angry  dispute  about  a  bill, 
in  a  room  in  the  house  of  the  debtor.  As  they  raised 
their  voices  to  a  high  key,  a  shrill  voice  in  the  next 
room  cried:  "Kick  him  out!  kick  him  out!  kick 
him  out!"  The  creditor  thought  it  was  the  debtor's 
wife  who  was  advising  him  to  commit  assault. 

Springing  up  in  a  great  rage  he  said  he  would  go 
without  being  kicked  out,  but  he  would  surely  be 
heard  from.  He  then  went  straight  to  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  and  brought  suit.  At  the  trial  it  was  proved 
that  it  was  a  parrot,  and  not  the  man's  wife,  who  had 
advised  the  kicking  out. 


47.    RED-HEAD    AND    HIS    MUSIC. 

OF  our  ruby-throat  humming-bird,  Mr.  Burroughs 
says:  "Nature  has  given  him  a  jewel  upon  his  tKroat, 
but  no  song  save  the  hum  of  his  wings."  His  wing- 
power  is  almost  a  miracle.  While  he  examines  a 
flower  he  stands  in  the  air.  His  bill  is  like  that  of 
the  woodpecker,  and  enables  him  to  draw  out  an  in- 
sect from  the  bottom  of  a  trumpet-flower. 

Something  about  their  bills  gives  interest  to  the 
flicker  or  yellow  hammer,  to  the  little  spotted  downy 
woodpecker,  and  to  our  common  red-head.  This  bill 


RED-HEAD    AND    HIS    MUSIC. 


195 


of  the  woodpecker  does  the  work  of  a  gimlet  and 
chisel.  The  tongue  within  the  bill  is  even  more  re- 
markable. On  the  end  of  it  are  barbs,  and  it  gives  out 
a  sticky  fluid,  so  that  the  tongue  can 
reach  far  into  a  worm-hole  and  pull 
the  victim  out  of  its  retreat. 

The  toes  of  these  birds  are  a  little  Yoked  Tofc3' 
like  those  of  the  parrot.  They  are  yoked.  Two  are 
thrown  before  and  two  behind,  so  that  they  can  more 
easily  cling  to  the  bark  or  bare  wood  of  a  tree's  trunk. 
The  tail  helps  a  little  to  hold  Red-head  up ;  for  you  will 
observe  that  he  presses  his  tail  against  the  tree. 

Does  the  woodpecker  sing?  The  Duke  of  Argyle, 
who  lives  in  Scotland,  after  watching  very  closely,  con- 
cluded that  this  bird 
with  a  chisel-bill  makes 
music  to  please  his 
mate,  as  truly  as  the 
thrush  or  robin  does ; 
only  his  music  is  in- 
strumental. The  wood- 
pecker is  a  drummer.- 
He  often  thumps  his 
bill  on  a  dead  or  dry 
limb,  merely  to  please 
his  companion.  Now 
let  me  describe  what  I 
have  seen  and  heard. 

One  day  I  was  walking  on  the  railroad  track,  when  I 
heard  a  tapping  and  ringing  noise  from  the  top  of  a  tele- 
graph pole.  The  noise  began  and  ended  at  regular  in- 
tervals. Carefully  moving  my  position,  I  saw  him  and 


Bed-head. 


196  LIVING    CREATURES. 

caught  him  in  the  act.  Red-head  had  found  a  better 
drum  than  a  hollow  tree ;  he  was  drumming  on  the 
glass  knob,  or  insulator,  of  the  telegraph  pole. 

Several  times  he  flew  away  and  as  often  returned, 
each  time  beating  the  ringing  tones  from  the  glass,  evi- 
dently as  happy  as  a  small  boy  with  a  new  drum.  Had 
I  known,  when  I  was  a  boy,  about  this  musical  trick  in 
Red-head,  I  should  not,  as  I  frequently  did,  have  left 
his  charmed  mate  a  widow. 


48.    THE    CANARY. 

AFTER  the  death  of  my  wood-lark  I  was  so  grieved 
at  the  loss,  that  my  father  bought  me  a  pair  of  cana- 
ries, the  first  of  these  birds  I  had  ever  seen.  I  was 
delighted,  charmed,  and  never  weary,  for  at  least  two 
hours,  of  contemplating  the  bright  yellow  dress  of  the 
male,  and  the  pale,  primrose  costume  of  his  mate. 

It  was  spring-time  when  they  were  given  to  me,  if 
I  remember  rightly,  and  the  cage  was  hung  in  the 
window  of  the  nursery.  How  splendidly  that  bird 
sang!  The  nightingales  in  the  little  beechen  copse  at 
the  foot  of  the  garden,  were  as  nothing  compared  to 
him,  I  thought;  and  very  likely  he  sang  louder  than 
they  did.  After  a  time,  my  mother  put  a  little  wicker 
basket  lined  with  flannel,  into  the  cage,  and  in  a  few 
days  four  or  five  little  pale-blue  eggs,  speckled  with 
brown,  were  laid. 

The  young  were  hatched  in  due  time,  to  the  great 


THE    CANARY.  197 

delight  of  the  parent  birds  who  stood  together  on  the 
edge  of  the  basket,  attentively  looking -down  at  the 
ugly,  helpless,  pink  little  things  below. 

The  origin  of  the  tame  canary  is,  unfortunately,  lost 
in  obscurity;  for  the  story  that  connects  it  with  the 
shipwreck  off  the  Island  of  Elba  and  the  Canary  Isles 
is  voted  by  common  consent  as  unworthy  of  belief. 
However  that  may  be,  there  are  at  the  present  day 
several  distinct  varieties  of  canary. 


Canaries  vary  in  song  as  much  as  they  do  in  shape 
and  color.  Some  have  the  sky-lark,  others  the  wood- 
lark,  and  still  others  the  nightingale  note.  Some  have 
a  song  consisting  of  loud,  harsh  shrieks  which  is  very 
unpleasant  to"  listen  to.  A  canary,  if  taught  while 
quite  young,  will  generally  pick  up  any  air  that  is  reg- 
ularly whistled  to  it,  or  played  on  a  flageolet ;  but  the 
lesson  must  be  often  repeated. 


198  LIVING    CREATURES. 


49.    THE    CROW. 

THE  common  American  crow  is  black,  like  the  three 
crows  of  the  old  story.  It  is  a  foot  and  a  half  long. 
The  raven  is  about  two  feet  long,  and  is  simply  a  larger 
crow.  Crows  make  their  presence  known  by  their 
"cawing,"  which  is  not  a  very  pleasant  noise;  it  can 
not  be  called  music  or  song. 

The  crow  has  a  fine  eye,  and  a  rather  long  and 
strong  beak.  The  food  it  prefers  consists  of  insects, 
worms,  grubs,  mice,  moles,  and  shell-fish — rather  soft 
food,  you  observe.  The  bill  of  the  bird,  though  stout, 
is  not  hard,  nor  is  his  stomach  adapted  to  grinding 
and  digesting  hard  food.  When  a  bird  has  a  soft  bill 
it  also  has  a  soft  stomach. 

If  a  crow  is  driven  by  hunger  to  eat  hard  corn,  he 
seldom  swallows  the  kernel  whole,  but  with  the  fine 
curved  point  of  his  bill  picks  out  the  germ  or  soft 
part  of  the  kernel.  In  corn-planting  time,  before  the 
mice,  beetles,  and  bird's  eggs,  which  they  love,  abound, 
the  crow-family  visit  the  farmer's  planted  corn.  They 
soon  find  out  that  the  old  men  set  up  about  the  field 
have  neither  muscle,  blood  nor  bone ;  and  they  dig  up 
and  devour  the  sprouting  seed.  Why?  Because  this 
corn  has  become  soft,  and  the  bird  can  digest  it. 

The  wit  and  cunning  of  this  bird  in  a  clerical  dress 
is  proved,  when  it  becomes  a  tamed  pet.  A  writer 
in  the  Indiana  Farmer  says :  ' '  We  have  a  pet  crow 
that  was  taken  from  the  nest  last  spring,  and  if  there 
is  any  thing  that  escapes  him  I  do  not  know  what  it  is. 
He  will  carry  away  knives,  spoons,  forks,  screw-driv- 


THE    CROW. 


199 


ers,  tape,  or  nails.  One  day,  while  our  backs  were 
turned,  he  stole  the  blueing-bag  out  of  the  wash-tub, 
and  we  had  a  big  chase  before  we  got  it  again. 

"  We  have  a  pup.  His  name  is  Gip.  The  crow's 
name  is  Jim.  The  pup  and  the  crow  play  together 
like  two  kittens.  It  makes  no  difference  which  name 
we  call,  they  will  both  come.  Mischievous  Jim  has 


Jim  and  Gip. 

the  advantage  of  Gip,  as  he  can  fly  up  when  he  has 
any  thing  in  his  mouth  that  he  doesn't  want  Gip  to 
have.  Jim  can  bark  like  Gip,  or  laugh  like  us;  and 
he  can  make  more  different  kinds  of  noise  in  one  hour 
than  any  bird  I  ever  saw,  or  heard  of.  He  will  untie 
our  aprons,  and  will  steal  every  pin  from  our  clothes, 
and  all  the  buttons  he  can  find." 


200 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


Robin's  Foot. 


around  a  twig. 


5O.    FACTS    ABOUT    BIRDS. 

THE  foot  of  the  robin,  or  of  the  canary,  is  a  poor 
tool  for  scratching.  The  long  hind  toe  is  sadly  in  the 
way.  On  the  chicken's  foot  this  toe  is  short,  and  is 
set  up  out  of  the  way.  How  do  these  little  birds 
move  on  the  ground  ?  What  birds  of 
the  air  walk  like  the  chicken,  putting 
one  foot  before  the  other  ?  With  long 
toes  and  exceedingly  sharp  nails,  the 
robin's  foot  is  made  to  cleave  tightly 
We  call  it  a  perching  foot.  The  hind 
toe  grasps  precisely  opposite  the  middle  front  toe. 

The  canary  cracks  and  eats  seeds  and  cuttle-fish. 
Is  not  its  bill  fitted  for  such  work?  The  robin,  or 
the  brown  thrasher,  picking  its  worm  from  the  sod 
has  use  for  a  longer  bill, 
while  there  seems  to  be 
no  need  of  a  hard  bill. 
The  canary  is  a  seed-eater ; 
the  robin  is  a  worm-eater. 
The  canary  and  its  nu- 
merous cousins  form  a 
family  of  finches.  The  rob- 
in and  its  kin  are  a  family 
of  thrushes.  The  question 
may  arise  why  some  birds 

Goldfinches. 

migrate  to  warmer  regions 

to  pass  the  winter,  while  others  remain  throughout 
the  year.  Those  that  go  are  mostly  worm-eaters,  whose 
food  the  winter  hides  or  destroys.  Those  that  stay  are 


FACTS    ABOUT    BIRDS. 


201 


chiefly  seed-eaters,  whose  food  is  not 

covered  by  snow  or  frost. 

Many  birds  have  air-tubes  connect- 
ing   their    lungs    with    their     hollow 

bones ;  so  that,  in  flying,  the  air  passes 

into  all  parts  of  the  body  and  makes 

it  lighter.     The  real  mystery  of  flight 

is  in   the    birds'    wings.      Could    any 

thing  be  at  once  so  light  and  so  strong 

as  the  quill,  which  is  the  lower,  naked 

part  of  the  feather? 

Then   look   at    the   vane,    or   web, 

which  is  fastened  to  the   after-shaft — 

the  upper  part  of  the  feather.      Each 

layer  of  the  vane  is  called  a  barb,  and 

cleaves  closely  to  its  fellow  by  hooks,       Fi*' 13'  Feather- 

or  barbules,    as  is  seen  in   the   magnified  barbs  (Fig. 

13),    on   either  side   of  the  quill.      This    arrangement 

makes  the  feather  a 
wonderfully  strong  and 
light  oar  to  row  the 
bird-ship. 

Young     birds,     like 
:;  young    children,    must 
;J  learn  their  songs.    The 
i  singing  muscles  of  the 
child  are  in  the  upper 
part  of  the   windpipe, 
and   can    only  be   suc- 
cessfully used  by  prac- 
tice.    The  singing  mus- 
cles of  the  bird   are  in   the   lower  part  of  the  wind- 


House  "Wren. 


202 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


pipe,   and  the  bird  acquires  the  art  of  using  them  by 
practice.  » 

The  useful  birds,  and  the  birds  of  song,  must  be 
protected.  Chimney  swifts,  and  swallows,  with  deep- 
cut  mouths  for  catching  flies  on  the  wing,  are  our 

. t    friends.         The     little 

-^^  house-wren,       though 

saucy,  is  a  nice  singer, 
and  should  have  a  box 
for  its  nest.  A  thou- 
sand insects,  in  a  single 
day,  have  been  carried 
by  a  pair  of  wrens  to 
their  young. 

Among  the  star' 
lings,  that  have  stout, 
rather  long  and  cutting  bills,  are  the  oriole,  the  mead- 
ow-lark and  the  bobolink.  The  bobolink  is  the  only 
black  and  white  bird  west  of  the  Mississippi.  He  is 
full  of  joy  and  music.  Of  all  the  songsters  none  takes 
deeper  hold  of  the  heart  than  the  song-sparrow — he 
is  so  cheery,  so  trustful  of  his  human  friends.  He 
sings  from  seven  to  ten  different  tunes. 


Bobolinks. 


51.    A    BIRD    NATION. 

THE  pilgrim  fathers  and  mothers  of  the  innumerable 
nation  of  house-sparrows  came  from  England  to  this 
country,  in  the  year  1852.  It  was  a  mistake  to  bring 
in  seed-eaters  to  catch  canker-worms.  In  England,  a 


A    BIRD    NATION. 


203 


hundred  years  ago,  they  were  disturbers ;  and  they 
were  charged  by  Mr.  White,  of  Selborne,  with  destroy- 
ing swallows,  robbing  martins,  and  indirectly  increas- 
ing harmful  insects. 

But  they  came  ;  and  after  a  few  generations,  they 
found  this  great,  free  country  just  the  place  for  a  great 
sparrow  nation.  Living  in  our  villages  and  cities,  they 
would  escape  the  terrors  of  owls  and  hawks.  So  they 


House-sparrows  Attacking  a  Cat. 

have  gone  on  increasing,  learning  all  the  bad  ways  of 
city  life,  but  none  of  the  good  ways.  From  a  single 
pair  come  five  or  six  broods  a  year;  and,  if  unop- 
posed, two  hundred  and  seventy-five  billions  of  birds 
in  ten  years.  They  have  already  spread  over  a  terri- 
tory of  one  million  square  miles. 

There  is  a  long  list  of  crimes  against  them.      They 
delight  to  plunder  lettuce,  peas,   beets,  cabbage,  fruit 


204 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


buds,  and  fruit  of  peach,  pear,  plum,  cherry,  apple, 
and  grape.  Fifty  of  them  have  been  counted  on  a 
single  shock  of  farmer's  grain. 

They  kill  and  drive  away  useful  birds  and  sweet  sing- 
ers ;  so  that,  in  place  of  the  inoffensive  and  musical 
wren,  robin,  and  song-sparrow,  we  have  the  plunder 
and  creech-creech  of  the  house-sparrow.  Besides  mak- 
ing war  upon  our  pretty  home  birds,  they  refuse  to  do 
the  useful  work  of  these  birds.  The  tussock  caterpil- 
lar, that  devours  the 
foliage  of  nearly  every 
tree,  is  so  covered  with 
sharp  bristles  that  most 
birds  will  not  touch  it. 
But  the  oriole,  the  rob- 
in, and  the  cuckoos  at- 
tack it,  and  the  yellow- 
billed  cuckoo  even 
shears  the  bristles  of 
the  worm  before  swal- 
lowing it.  The  armies 
of  our  little  ruffians,  however,  drive  away  the  robins 
and  the  cuckoos,  and  leave  our  trees  to  the  mercy  of 
the  caterpillars.  They  will  not  work  for  us,  nor  will 
they  allow  our  old  friends  to  work  for  us. 

As  fighters,  they  have  no  equals  among  small  birds. 
One  alone  is  weak,  but  many  together  are  strong. 
When  one  gets  into  trouble  he  calls  a  regiment  to  help 
him.  In  one  instance,  they  are  reported  to  have  killed 
a  cat.  But  they  make  good  pot-pies.  Let  us  then 
rise  and  eat  the  sparrow  nation,  or  the  sparrow  nation 
may  grow  strong  enough  to  eat  us. 


Song->sparrow. 


THE    GREAT    SINGERS. 


205 


52.    THE    GREAT    SINGERS. 

THE  poets  are  lovers  of 
children,  flowers,  and  birds. 
Without  the  song  of  birds, 
the  summer  would  be  as 
cheerless  as  if  it  were 
without  children  and  flow- 
ers. But  there  is  a  differ- 
ence in  the  power  and 
sweetness  of  bird-song,  as 
there  is  a  difference  in  the 
beauty  of  flowers  and  the 
attractiveness  of  children. 

The  English  poets  lead 
us  to  think  that  no  feath- 
ered songsters  can  compare 
with  the  sky-lark  and  the 

nightingale.  The          poet  European  Nightingale. 

Montgomery  tells  us  something  of  their  habits: 

"The  bird  that  soars  on  highest  wing, 
Builds  on  the  ground  her  lowly  nest ; 

And  she  that  doth  most  sweetly  sing, 
Sings  in  the  shade  when  all  things  rest. 

In  lark  and  nightingale  we  see 
What  honor  hath  humility." 

The  nightingale,  called  Philomel,  seems  to  have  been 
the  favorite  bird  of  Milton : 

"  Sweet  bird,  that  shun'st  the  noise  of  folly, 

Most  musical,  most  melancholy, 
Thee,  chantress,  oft  the  woods  among 
I  woo,  to  hear  thy  evening  song." 


206 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


English   Sky-lark. 


Americans  are  usu- 
ally disappointed  when 
they  first  hear  the  sky- 
lark and  the  nightin- 
gale. They  think  our 
own  great  singers  have 
finer  voices,  though 
we  have  fewer  great 
poets  to  extol  them. 
The  sky-lark  sings 
while  it  soars,  and  pours  its  notes  down  upon  the  ear, 
when  itself  has  risen  out  of  sight.  Hence  Shakespeare 
says: 

"Hark!  hark!  the  lark  at  heaven's  gate  sings." 

And  Tennyson  adds: 

"And  drowned  in  yonder  living  blue,. 
The  lark  becomes  a  sightless  song." 

With  the  first  warm  breath  of  summer,  our  wood 
thrush,  with  reddish  back  and  mottled  breast,  plays 
his  flute,  sweet  and  * 

clear,  in  rising  and  fall- 
ing measures. 

And  we  have  our 
nightingale,  or  night- 
singer — the  Southern 
mocking-bird.  His 

best  song  is  in  the 
woods,  where  Long- 
fellow finds  him  sing- 

.  .    .  -r  Mocking-bird. 

ing  to  the  sad  heart  of 

Evangeline  in  search  of  her  lover  in  the  wild  South-west : 


THE    GREAT    SINGERS. 


207 


"Then  from  a  neighboring  thicket  the  mocking-bird,  wildest  of 

singers, 

Swinging  aloft  on    a  willow  spray  that  hangs  o'er  the  water, 
Shook  from  his  little  throat  such  floods  of  delirious  music, 
That  the  whole  air  and  the  woods  and  the  waves  seemed  silent 

to  listen." 

Mr.  Champlin,  of  New  York,  with  a  coaching  party 
in  England,  witnessed  the  flight  and  song  of  five  sky- 
larks together.  After  this  unusual  concert,  he  says  of 
the  American  mocking-bird's  song:  "It  is  sweeter, 


Prairie-lark. 

richer,  mellower,  more  varied  and  more  brilliant,  of 
greater  compass,  more  powerful  and  more  prolonged 
than  that  of  any  songster  in  British  woods." 

Our  most  remarkable  bird-vocalist  seems  to  be  the 
western  meadow-lark,  or  prairie-lark.  Because  of  its 
superiority,  and  because  few  had  noticed  it,  Audubon 
called  it  neglecta.  It  is  essentially  the  same,  in  form 
and  colors,  as  the  common  meadow-lark,  or  starling. 


208 


LIVING    CREATURES. 


It  differs  in  habits,  and  is  greatly  superior  in  song.  In 
the  prairie  country  of  the  North-west,  it  sings  early 
and  late  in  the  season  ;  early  and  late  in  the  day.  It 
sings  at  rest  and  it  sings  while  soaring. 

Mr.  Ernest  E.  Thompson,  whose  experienced  hand 
Jias  drawn  many  of  the  bird-pictures  that  adorn  these 
pages,  has  made  the  acquaintance  of  all  the  great  sing- 
ers, at  home  and  abroad,  in  their  native  haunts ;  and 
of  the  prairie-lark  he  says:  "It  is  one  of  two  or  three 
great  ones  of  the  world  of  bird-song." 

We  have,  also,  our  sky-lark.  In  the  region  of  the 
upper  Missouri  River  is  the  Missouri  titlark,  that  rises 
into  the  air  while  he  sings  a  tune  which  some  people 
think  quite  equal  to  that  of  the  European  sky-lark. 

Let  us  open  our  ears  and  hearts  to  the  beauty  and 
melody  of  the  birds.  Like  the  joy  of  the  sunshine 
and  flowers;  like  the  cheer  of  pleasant  faces;  like  the 
charm  of  kind  words,  good  books,  and  loving  friends, 
they  help  to  lighten  the  load  of  life. 


Living  ere 


